People's Architecture
    3X3 III A Perspective on China - CHIN[A]RT

On the previous lecture

During our previous lectures of this nine part monthly lecture series, on April 17 and May 16 2006, we introduced the themes of Future | Fast | Forward and Formal | Informal with the presentations of Neville Mars of the Dynamic City Foundation, Hui Wang and Yan Meng of Urbanus Architectural and Design, Yushi Uehara and professor Randall Crane. The four lectures hopefully contributed to lay the foundation for a critical understanding of the current Chinese urban and architectural development through offering a broad range of people involved in and around these processes.

But equally important as presenting these researches, this blooming work of researchers, architects, academics and artist from all different stamps, People's Architecture sees it as essential to find the relation between hitherto scattered initiatives around China, whether it be in international symposia, exhibitions, publications or speeches. Because, if it is true, and I am sure everyone will agree, that China today is perceived as the world largest factory, or as the great wall mart that is eating the world, one must also be aware that the current focus on China suffers from the same shopping syndrome; we seem to live in an era that is characterized by a strange form of Chinese cannibalism, as it is consuming or being consumed.

The unprecedented dynamism of the built environment not only mesmerizes and astonishes architects and planners about the changes in almost every aspect of everyday life, but also a broad range of artists, photographers and filmmakers. This and the upcoming lecture presents a selection of artists that deal intensely with these changes.

Today we present you the work of Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen, next month, on July 18 2006 we will screen The San Yuan Li Project, a movie directed by Ou Ning and Cao Fei and previous screened on the Venice Biennale. If people want a reference of what to expect of this movie, upon seeing the movie People's Architecture was thinking about a mix between Dziga Vertov's The Man with the movie Camera and the classic Koyaanisqatsi.

An introduction to CHIN[A]RT

Upon seeing for the first time the work of Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen, both their work as individual artists as their collaboration, I was very intrigued by the way they explore their own experience and environment within their art. One Sunday evening they presented their work to us, in order to discuss and prepare this evening and make a selection of the work's today presented. Unanimously we decided that Song Dong's projects that deal with food, cooking and heating up cities intrigued all of us. I, as always, didn't really understand where my fascination for the eating cities came from. Until a couple of days later, walking around the city of New York, I remembered a book I read in which the author was talking about China's first great modern writer Lu Hsun, who falls under the so-called May Fourth intellectuals category, and was talking about Lu Hsun's book "Diary of a Madman". I quote the following out of the book:

"Our vaunted Chinese civilization is only a feast of human flesh prepared for the rich and mighty," Lu wrote. "And China is only a kitchen where these feasts are prepared. Those who praise China because they do not know this are excusable, but the rest deserve to be condemned forever." In his first short story, "Diary of a Madman," Lu states passionately that the essence of the Confucian tradition amounts to license for cannibalism. His "madman" has a paranoiac obsession that his relatives and fellow-villagers are plotting to eat him. "How can I possibly guess their secret thoughts - especially when they are ready to eat people... I recollect, in ancient times, people often ate human beings, but I am rather hazy about it. I tried to look this up, but my history has no chronology, and scrawled over each page are the words: 'Virtue and Morality.' In any case, I could not sleep, so I read half the night, until I began to see words between the lines, the whole book being filled with the two words, 'Eat People.'" (end quote) This notion of "Eat People" transformed itself into my interpretation of Song Dong's installation work with food as "Eat Cities". Upon traveling through China, upon reading on China and upon talking about China I can only hear and explain what I am feeling with two words "Eat Cities". It is as if the whole country is being filled with two words "Eat Cities". Whether that has to do with cannibalism or development, we hope to find out throughout today's presentation.


On today's lecturers

Our lecture this evening presents the work of two artists, that not only collaborate together, but are also married. Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen were invited by ACC Asia Cultural Council to NYC, as well as the Chamber Fine Art Gallery for their solo exhibition "Chopstick", currently on view. First Yin Xiuzhen will present three of her installation, namely the Supermarket, Portable Cities and The Ruin. The first two are works in which she uses knitting, this probably because, as we can read in a text that Wu Hung wrote about this couple, Yin Xiuzhen says she has enjoyed knitting since she was a little girl, not because she was interest in clothing, but because she enjoyed seeing patterns evolve and change in her hands. After Yin's presentation Song Dong will present the Eating Cities Series, Crumbling Shanghai and Floating. After each presentation writer and architect Zhu Tao will talk about the work and will moderate the discussion with the audience.

On upcoming lecture

Let me conclude with the announcement of our upcoming lecture, and part four in our lecture series, on Tuesday July 22 entitled S[CR]EE[N]ING CHINA with the movies made by Ou Ning and Ciao Fei. As the two artist will talk in Chinese, this evening will be a almost simultaneously translated into English by Wei Wei Shannon, co-founder People's Architecture. Finally we would like to thank the AIA New York Chapter for their support and the Gluckman Foundation and the public for their presence.

People's Architecture

Center for Architecture, New York

June 22, 2006