Day Fifteen
This started out as a very busy day. I finished the
cleanup on the small bronze deep sea critters
series. This included using a mixture of black
acrylic, diluted with a lot of water, to eliminate
the white casting remnants we were unable to clean
by conventional methods. Li Gang and I had
previously discussed using a turpentine and beeswax
solution to preserve the patina. He had mixed up a
batch and I applied it to the small Long and
Slender. I also applied it to one of the flattish
deep sea critters. I could then decide on the next
day whether to do the other flattish deep-sea
critter, as well as the other deep sea critters with
this solution. I wanted to give it 24 hours so I
could really tell the difference.
Although my stomach was feeling better I decided to
skip lunch and bike to the main street to get
additional keys made for the new studio. I then
decided to bike to the new studio and visit A Space
and the other galleries being constructed right next
to the art park where my studio will be located. One
of the new studios had been completed and was
setting up for its first show. It was beautiful
space. I then went off to see A Space, which was
just down the block, but in the same compound.
A Space is a massive 4000 square meter building.
Peter Lewis was leaving the building with two other
persons, Alfredo Martinez, the chief curator, and
his assistant Jessica. Alfredo invited me to join
them for lunch and I accepted with a caveat that I
would not be able to eat very much. Alfredo is an
interesting person. He is an artist who has led a
most unusual life, including working for a
gunrunner, working as a helicopter pilot in Belize,
and as a dealer in art. Abraham had told me that he
thought Alfredo was an excellent artist but did not
know how we would be on the business side of the art
world.
After lunch I looked at the A Space Gallery space.
It reminded me very much of Dia at Beacon, New York
in size, scope and feel, but it was all in one huge
room. It was made to show large powerful works of
art. Kristian had been recruited to construct one of
his large wood creations. There are a number of
other artists working frantically to complete their
installations before the opening on Saturday, June
16 at 4:00 p.m. One of the artists, Gae Savanna,
cancelled her return to New York after Alfredo
persuaded her to stay on for the show. Another
artist was delivering 24 life-size fiberglass
sculptures depicting downtrodden Chinese
construction workers. This is a very common subject
matter for contemporary Chinese artists, which I
believe was started by the recent success of Ling
Ling’s husband, but I may be wrong.
I would have very much liked to go to the opening,
which should be a real happening, but my flight to
New York is scheduled to leave 20 minutes before the
opening begins. This whole area looks like a small
version of 798 and appears to have the full backing
of the Chinese political authorities. I then
returned to the compound and had a short visit with
Shao Kan at Li Gang’s place, before going downtown
to meet Grace and Dagao to purchase items needed to
be installed by the contractor in my absence,
including air conditioning units, a propane two
burner stove and an exhaust fan unit and a solar
power roof unit for hot water. I also purchased a
bed and mattress, which I hope can make it upstairs
because of a turn in the staircase. On my next trip
I will get the bed linens, the washing machine and a
refrigerator. Since the refrigerator is to fit under
the stairs leading up to the master bedroom suite,
it is difficult to know at this time what the proper
size will be until the stairway is completed
Chinese department stores outside of the Western
area of Beijing do not accept American credit cards
or American currency. So after the air conditioning
units were paid for in RMB, I took careful notes so
that Zhu or Grace could be wired the money to make
the actual purchases of the other items. The
department stores and the supplier of the solar
energy unit each agreed to pay for and install the
unit that I was going to purchase. The Chinese
residential air conditioners, unlike our American
counterparts consist of two new units. One unit is
mounted on an outside wall and the other unit is
mounted on the inside wall in the room to be
air-conditioned. Because the second large bedroom
has a stairway leading up to it, it did not make
sense to put an air conditioner in that room.
In the artist’s lofts the downstairs tends to remain
much cooler than the upstairs. A couple of fans,
even on the hottest days seems to be enough. But the
upstairs can get extremely hot. Also, the variation
in prices is dramatic. For example, in the first
solar energy place we checked into the unit cost was
approximately $800. But Lennart had told me that his
unit cost approximately $200. Grace who had very
thoroughly researched and organized this shopping
Blitzkrieg had a backup source. There a comparable
unit was between $200 and $250, depending on who was
the manufacturer. It pays to comparison shop in
Beijing. In the Gome department store, each
manufacturer had an area for each type of appliance
with its own sales person.
I then took a taxi to join John and Madeleine, two
ex-pat Australians, for dinner at a Tunisian
restaurant. We sat outside and John described his
recent railroad trip from Beijing to Tibet, the last
portion of which was only recently completed. This
trip was for an article he was asked to write. His
description of the last third of the trip,
especially his description of the “big blue sky” in
Tibet was fascinating. Madeline and I had previously
discussed the western province of Jing Jaio and they
then described their vacation to that part of China.
We then discussed the Beijing art scene and her
views on what she wanted to create, since she had
just left Red Gate. She wanted something different
than a show suitable for gallery hopping in which
you tend to see many of the same people, none of
whom are buyers, at the various openings. Their
theory, which I agree with, was that most of the
people came for the free food and drink and the
accompanying entertainment all at no cost. Although
foreign galleries have come into Beijing, the local
galleries appear to be changing very slowly to be
competitive.
It was then time come back to the compound, call
Leslie, prepare the diary and get some sleep because
tomorrow will be my last full day in Beijing. I will
be very busy completing details preparing my pieces
for two upcoming shows, dealing with the new studio
and packing since Li Gang wants me to keep him
company while he goes to the antiques market early
Saturday morning to pick up the painting he paid for
but forgot to take. I said he had a deal but we had
to leave the market by 10:15 to leave me enough time
for me to get to the airport. That means I will have
to pack tomorrow and organize what I am leaving
behind.
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