SHORT INTRO I WROTE FOR A JUNE PHOTO ESSAY BY THE TALENTED DON YAP OF THIS COOL SCULPTURE EXHIBIT OUT AT SHANGHAI SCULPTURE SPACE. IF YOU HAVEN’T BEEN OUT THERE, GO CHECK IT OUT. THEY’VE GOT A GREAT SOUTH AFRICAN CAFE WHERE YOU CAN HAVE A KICKIN’ COFFEE AFTERWARDS.
Sculpting the City
Cities inspire creativity, and creativity inspires the maturation of cities. Nowhere in Shanghai is this more apparent than Red Town, which is holding the exhibition “Communication between Sculptures and the City” through mid-June at its Shanghai Sculpture Space. Sculptures from China and around the world frolic across the wide green lawn, ponder in an indoor pit, and dip and dance from the walls and the ceiling. Liu Qing’s “Train No. T61” poignantly captures the varied sentiment among characters waiting at a platform. Wang Chao’s “Desert” constructs unfaltering camels out of oil refinery scrap metal and rusted gas tanks. As for some more playful incarnations, Shi Xiangdong’s take on David, “Revival,” covers up his choice bits with an erhu; Liu Jia’s kitten holds a man by the scruff of the neck in “The Human Drama Series: The Cat,” and in “The Dancer,” Lin Zhixin’s corpulent ballerina strikes a pose. We can only wish we interacted with city spaces with as much flexibility and fun as these entities made of wood and stone.
By Megan Shank
雕刻城市
城市激发灵感，创作塑造城市。这在“红坊”里尤为明显，六月中旬，一个名为“雕塑与城市对话”的展览正在位于此处的上海城市雕塑艺术中心里展出。来自国内外的雕塑们嬉戏于宽广的绿色草坪上，沉思在屋子的角落中，灵动地跳跃于顶棚四壁间。柳青的“T61次”辛酸地捕捉下了在站台上等车的人们各异的神态。王超的“沙漠”则用炼油厂的废弃金属和锈迹斑斑的油罐，构建起坚持不懈的骆驼。有些作品更具戏谑性：史向东的作品“复兴”，用一把二胡为经典雕塑“大卫”遮羞；刘佳在“人间戏剧系列：猫猫”中，则安排她的猫猫站着，拎起一个人的后脖颈；尹智欣的“舞蹈家”却用你从所未见的肥硕的芭蕾舞女形象冲击着人们的视觉。只希望我们也能像这些木雕石刻的实体一样，与城市空间进行灵活而有趣的互动。
–单梅兰
淮海西路570号
570 West Huaihai Rd
Micah Sittig
July 21st, 2007