laowai magazine shanghai june 2012 - art section by maurice amadeus latzke

7/30/2019 Laowai Magazine Shanghai June 2012 - Art Section by Maurice Amadeus Latzke

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Chinese Medicine - The Jing’An Sculpture Park15th Shanghai International Film festival - NuoMi Fashion

Boundaries; What are they & why do we need them?



MADE IN CHINA

INTRODUCING THE MiC PROJECT

A NEW GENERATION

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM CHINESE DESIGNERS

INTERIOR DESIGN

MARIEL MEYERS OLD LANE HOUSES

5 Shanghai park activitiesfor this summer

Illustrated by Wang Xi / Benny Lin

S l e e p

Walk your favorite pet

F i n d a h u s b a n d

f o r y o u r d a u g h t e r

D a n c e w i t h

t h e A y i s



CMade In China

project

I M

As we announced in the May issue, this months’ MiC project features the unique and

imaginave work of Jonas Merian.

Jonas nds his inspiraon in the

abundance of debris and outlived ob-

jects that have resulted from Shang-

hai’s modernizaon. He spends most

of his me in his studio in the Wuwei

Creave Garden, where he uses the

reclaimed materials to repurpose

them into furniture and home décor.

Images courtesy of Jonas Merian



Nothing Outlives Jonas

Jonas has more or less created

a product catalogue for himself,

consisng of suitcase-speakers,

clocks, retro-TV-picture-frames,

n shelves and tables. We opted

for the table, as we could do with

one in our meeng room.

If you know how to work with

wood, then the process is fairly

simple; align roughly 15 solid

strait wooden planks found at

a recently demolished building,

link them together, sand every-thing, varnish the whole thing

and sck some legs on it.

As always, we recommend you

go and create your own MiC

design, in this case by upcycling

some of Shanghai’s odds and

ends into something contempo-

rary. If you do, be sure to send

your results to

[email protected].

The suggested price for this ta-

ble (220 x 100 x 75 cm) is 40,000

RMB.

For more informaon about Jo-

nas Merian, visit his website.

jonasdesign.net

PROJECT 2 Shanghai Wood



Hand-craed furniture following the form of

Giorgio Armani’s at-front suit pants, envi-

ronmentally sensive coee tables, carpets

you can get lost in and houses inside trees.

These are just some of the things the design

duo of Lukasz Kos and Andrei Zerebecky has

realized since 2011.

PLEAT LOUNGERImages courtesy of FOUR O NINE

MINIMALISM TOTHE PLEAT



WHAT CAN I DO TO ATTRACT

YOU?

THE NIGHT MARKET

CHINESE ARTS & CRAFTS FAIR

June 16th - July 15th @ Studio Rouge M50, Block 7

50 Moganshan Lu, near Changhua Lu / studiorouge.cn

June 13th @ DADA Bar

115 Xingfu Lu, near Fahuazhen Lu / Tel. 150 0018 2212

June 9th @ Jiashan Market

Shaanxi Nan Road 550 or entrance on Jiashan Road 259

A collaboraon between Chinese and French Franch art-

ist exploring the art of aracon. Using a full range of

medias discover ideas around aracon; conscious or

unconscious, for love, business or pleasure, using meth-

ods either outrageous, crazy, inmate or discreet.

The Night Market returns to Dada in June, promising a

range of local designers distribung their wares through

pop-up shops and creave showcases. This is obviously

the best (if not only?) opportunity for drunk shopping.

The CACF aims to become a launch pad for young Chi-

nese arsts by not only promong their work but by

also becoming a forum for ancient Chinese handcras

and calligraphy along with new media and photography.

Some foreigners will also exhibit their work, and the

whole event will be interspersed with musical perfor-

mances and various food oerings.

Exhibions & Art Fairs in June

Zerebecky and Kos co-founded the mul-disciplinary, Shanghai-based

design agency FOUR O NINE in 2011. It has since been recognized for

its variety of projects, ranging from interior designs to handcraed fur-

niture.

While keeping their projects as minimal and elegant as possible they sll

integrate usability. The creases of the ZERO WASTE TABLE can be used

to store books and magazines, and the ECLIPSE mirror, inspired by the

cultural signicance of the moon in Chinese culture, can actually be used

as a mirror!

We love the Studio Box design; it disnguishes itself from the chaoc

growth of new architectural clichés and exisng architectural forms in

Shanghai. It creates a confusing moment of clarity , almost like something

that should only be visible through 3d glasses.

“Zerebecky and Kos bring together a sensibility that

explores the boundaries of the prosaic and poec...”



Shanghai’s increasing demand for everything

environmentally friendly sll surprises me. This

trend apparently is nowhere near reaching its

height, and the newest addion to the list of ex-

travagant must-haves are a new generaon of

ethanol and pellet replaces.

Despite being safer and more economic than

their predecessors, these replaces also create

an incomparably tranquil atmosphere, espe-

cially with the outdoor models for the upcom-

ing summer nights.

INEXTERIOR DESIGNProbably the best re you’ll ever feel.

Images courtesy of Wanders & Planika



Do I need to light my own re?

No, these cyber-futurisc-space-replaces come with remote

controls. You can even adjust the size of the ame. If you are

more of a DIY person, you can also light it manually.

What is environmentally friendly about them?

Ethanol gas is a form of renewable energy produced from com-mon crops such as sugar cane, potatoes and corn.

The pellets are made from compacted sawdust and sawmill

waste. Their extreme density lets them burn with a very high

combuson eciency. This also makes them very economic!

Will my children burn their ngers on the glass?

Although these systems are very safe, the answer is yes; glass

gets hot when it is heated.

In case you have been considering buying a replace, here are some of the most important quesons;

Do the gas or pellets produce dangerous fumes?

No; modern replaces use a Balanced system that emits

the exhausts through a pipe installed along with the

replace.

Where can I get one?

Most of these are produced in Europe, and imporngthem is very complicated. The leading distributor in Chi-

na that seems to have beaten the bureaucracy is Wan-

ders. We found a showroom at Wending Plaza which

oers a selecon of premium brands.

Will all of my friends start vising me more oen if I

get one?

Yes



There is only

one thing

you should

be doing

other than

reading thism a g a z i n e ;

go to the

P a r k!

The Jing’An sculpture park is a master-

piece of landscape design; a sanctuary,an outdoor art gallery and a playground.

The sculptures have been handpicked by

the parks’ curators Peter and Julia Zhao. I

had the wonderful opportunity to spend

the aernoon with them while they

showed me around. We drank tea in the

parks’ private teahouse, while listening

to Guqin masters praccing their cra.

Since that day I’ve spent most of my me

coming up with an idea related to the

park so I may return for more tea, expect

to nd the result of my hard thinking innext months issue.

photography by Maurice Latzke

JUNE GETAWA



What was your movaon behind making this on-

exhibion?

The Jing’An district government wanted to create a

park that inspires people. By installing public art the

park is more than just trees, water, and a Chinese gar -

den.. it is also the rst park in the city featuring inter-

naonal public art. It’s an exchange between china and

the West. A plaorm for exchange.

What was the biggest challenge?

When you are doing an art exhibion on such a large

scale, while dealing with the government, you have to

compromise. The biggest challenge in our meengs

was; why this arst? Why this piece?

For the rst proposal we listed 300 works. The gov-

ernment took a cleaver and chopped without reason.

Some of their criteria are; no religion, no violence, no

sexy (no naked), this is the rule.



What was your own criteria?

Of course we have our favourites, but aer talking with the

government for a long me, with much hassle, debates and

arguments… we are more or less on the same wavelength

now. The aim is not for the visitors to understand the art but

to be joyful. The most important thing is that they love it andthink it’s beauful, that’s all that counts.

What would you like to display next? Is it mostly about

scale and name?

First we look for pieces which are durable and sustainable

outside; stone & metal. Then we are looking for very eye-

catching pieces, scale is one criteria.

What are some of the benets and problems working with

the government?

*Laughing*

We have created very strong references. This year is a lot eas-

ier to get in touch with new arsts and galleries. They have

heard about the project and are very excited to join. Also we

have established our name in China and Asia for high-class

public art. Not to menon the dollar sign.. We get contacted

by a lot of private collectors that love the park and want to

meet us.

As for the problems.. We only have two months to execute

the next exhibion, even though it is conrmed, the gov-

ernment also needs to get licenses, stamps from hundreds

of dierent organizaons, approvals, go to the customs for

import license.. The bureaucracy is the biggest problem! We

were supposed to open on the 1st of September, but it’s too

soon. So we asked the government for extra me, and luckily

they were so generous to give us a very generous extension..

20 extra days...

how do you distribute your rolls in all of this?

Julia is my boss

*JULIA* Do you believe that!!

She is very good at massaging the government when she has

to. I talk today, but when there are government people here,

I shut my mouth and she goes on about *inaudible gibber-

ish*!!!

My last queson, if a visitor only had 8 minutes to visit the

park, where should they go rst?

The installaon by Arne Quinze, this is the parks icon

But secretly we all agreed on the teahouse

laowai magazine shanghai june 2012 - art section by maurice amadeus latzke

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