A Visit From Dad

I had a dream about my father last night. I rarely dream about my deceased parents, but I feel when they show up, they are visiting me. This was my dream from last night, as recorded in my journal:

Strange dream about my Dad. We were at the [Memorial] Coliseum, I think, and Joe Biden might have been speaking. It seemed dark at this rally. Dad didn’t want to listen to whatever was being said, so he got out some earbuds to listen to his radio. I did the same. Then he got up to talk to someone. He came back and said we were leaving. I was looking for the paperwork we came with. It was like there was shelving separating us from the row of people in front of us. I hoped I had all the papers we needed. On the way out, Dad held me by the hand. There was a stack of newspapers on a table and I grabbed some on the way out. The paper had a story about the Barenaked Ladies. Was it WhatzUp? What a weird dream.

The Memorial Coliseum is a venue located in my hometown, of Fort Wayne, Indiana. My Dad and I spent a lot of time there, but we were watching hockey games, not attending rallies, if indeed that’s what this was.

I don’t quite understand putting earbuds in, if he just got up to go anyway. But taking me by the hand was a bit odd. I mean, I think I was an adult in this dream. If I’d been a little kid, I am not sure I would have grabbed for a few copies of WhatzUp, the weekly I used to work for. The Barenaked Ladies being on the cover was weird too. I used to like them back in the day; I even got to meet them, but you know that saying, “never meet your idols”? Yeah, it was an underwhelming meet up. I wonder if anyone had briefed them they were actually going to meet fans that night. It was so bad, 30 seconds in, I really did want the floor to swallow me up. So I don’t know what’s going on with them. I should go online to see if anyone connected with them had a dust-up.

The dream represents loss: my father, my local writing career, my youth. I have had problems with insomnia, but it was nice to sleep deep enough to dream. The drawback of that, of course, is troubling dreams. But thanks Dad, for coming to visit. Say hi to Mom for me.

798 Art Zone

So I went to 798 Art Zone. I never really did anything too artsy in Guangzhou, although I did go to at least one museum. In Beijing, 798 Art Zone is an area with buildings that used to be military factories. It reminded me of the International Harvester complex in Fort Wayne, Indiana. That means nothing to anyone reading this (except for one person) but anyone who has ever worked on a factory campus back in the day will know what I’m talking about. Instead of one big building, there are a series of buildings, each of which house something vital to the complex. “Make art, not bombs” could be the slogan of this area. I was aware of this area, but didn’t get a chance to visit until the weather got colder. I’ll bet it’s a happening place during warm weather.

One of many murals in 798 Art Zone, but this might be the biggest.

Basically these buildings are rented out by all sorts of creative types. There are galleries, shops, and places to eat. The complex is closed off to cars, so it’s like a little pedestrian town with sculptures and murals nearly everywhere you look. The main street, so to speak, is home to UCCA (Ullens Center for Contemporary Art).

Not as big as the last mural, but still pretty big.

When I first showed up, I was bummed to find out UCCA was closed to the public. There was an exhibit by Maurizio Cattelan that I wanted to check out, modern art seemingly being lazy and amusing at the same time. (See my Cattelan post here.)  Never heard of Cattelan? Not to worry! Recreate his genius by purchasing a banana and sticking it on a white wall with duct tape.

UCCA’s ad for Mr. Cattelan and The Last Judgment, a show full of dead animals and various likenesses of Cattelan.

Make sure the banana’s curve is to the left, if you are aiming for authenticity. In true marketing genius, the museum is selling rolls of duct tape and bananas (real as well as plastic) so you too can create “modern art.” Andy Warhol would have approved.

I like how the UCCA store had real, plastic, and plush bananas so you could have a choice.

This was one of a series of several sculptures just sitting out. I’m positive the same artist did a sculpture of several bulls in Wanfujing Shopping Street. The technique and coloring look the same.
Not sure what this means. Like, no matter how big you are, you can still be caged?
I thought this graffiti was colorful, so I took a picture of it. Graffiti DOES exist in China, and 798 Art Zone is probably one of the few places where it’s actually allowed. Even the public toilets are some of the cleanest I’ve ever seen in the world.
Fallen, but in Flight. Artist: me. The reason I titled it that is because even though these leaves are on the sidewalk, the perspective is they are slanted up. Get it?
Plenty of art on the street if you don’t want to pay for the museum.
I thought this was a particularly beautiful mural.
I like how most of the letters in “NOODlE” are capitalized, except for the lower-case “l”. Is it Noodle Bar or NOODlE Bar? Whatever it is, I applaud the owners for being subversive and exploiting font choices to seem more X-rated than this probably is.

I went back for a second trip to 798 Art Zone and I finally got to see Cattelan’s work, which did not disappoint.

Bitter Cold

I went out to do a bit of sightseeing before I have to leave and I saw the Temple of Heaven and a bit of Olympic stuff. I couldn’t believe my stamina, but the temps won out. My hands were so cold, I didn’t want to have to get on the subway home, so I took a Didi just so I could sit down. Yes, I went five hours today on my feet and no lunch. At home now with the space heater aimed at my feet because they were freezing too.

One of the great things about this awesome apartment is even with the bitter cold, I have not had to turn on the heat. The space heater is quite enough to keep me cozy on the couch. If I decide to exercise in my spare bedroom, I can always aim the space heater down the hallway so I get a bit of a warm breeze. But I usually don’t need it.

But it’s the night before Christmas and I found a picture my bestie from China was asking about. It took sitting in rush hour traffic in Beijing and wondering where the hell that picture was. But I found it doing a search on our chat. I opened up our chat and hit media, and there was every photo/video we’d sent. And there was that horrible lunch she was served in the hospital. I remember her texting that to me and asking what it was.

What IS this, anyway? Frog? Lizard? Flog?

I Went to See Maurizio Cattelan’s Show so You Don’t Have To (But you Should)

Map and list of art in The Last Judgment

Maurizio Cattelan is someone I’d never heard of when I was hoping to see his show, advertised outside the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA). Modern art is always entertaining for its seemingly lack of skill or talent, and the “statements” it tries to make, but I enjoy it anyway. This post isn’t for the squeamish, or by those put off by taxidermied animals. I was relieved when I found out Cattelan only preserves animals who have died naturally. Still, a horse hanging out of a wall is a bit unnerving. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Cattelan’s work seems to be influenced by death, religion, humiliation and himself. In a move that Andy Warhol would approve of, one time Cattelan was offered space but didn’t have any art to put in. So he rented  the space to a company for an ad. And yes, this is sponsored by Gucci, and a big ass screen topping the gallery shows the expensive clothes you can buy. Perhaps ironically, Gucci sponsoring an exhibit that seems a bit obsessed with death seems appropriate, since Patrizia “Lady Gucci” Reggiani Gucci had her own husband murdered.

It was an enjoyable afternoon seeing the exhibit. If you are a fan of modern art, catch this show in person if you can.

Curating Some Photos

I’m planning to enter a photo contest. I’m going over some photos that I think are great, but the longer I look at them, I doubt myself. I always do. But I guess if I love the photos I take, that’s something I guess.

The deadline is in a few days. They charge a fee for entering, but I guess the contest is legit.

You never know if you never try.

Chinese Buffet

I’ve always loved buffets. It’s a good way to try different types of foods without getting too terribly burned. Instead of paying money for one meal (which you may or may not like) you can pay one price and try the pigeon, as well as more familiar fare.

Then, you can always create the most unbalanced meal ever. If you want to gorge on sweet-and-sour pork and nothing else, have at it.

The search for reliable chicken fried rice remains a problem. I found it in Xiamen, but not in Guangzhou or Beijing. Trip Advisor recommended Lunar 8 for the rice. It was okay, but not exactly what I was looking for. I still got full, and the manager was very attentive.

First plate was chicken nuggets, sweet-and-sour pork, and noodles.

Buffets in China are more elegant than their American counterparts. The food will also be more authentic, especially the Chinese selections. It’s common at the better buffets to find a salad bar, dessert bar, and hot food areas.

Plate number two.

One thing you’ll find at Chinese buffets in China is duck. My second plate was more sweet-and-sour pork, duck, and some rice. Duck is super-common here. I never had it in the states, as I associated it more with with ritzier restaurants. It certainly wasn’t available in the grocery stores like it is here. It comes pre-cooked and pre-packaged, and you can grab it at the deli. People have told me about the famous Peking Duck, which I’ve had, and I’ll share that experience on another blog post.

Egg Drop or Egg Flower soup.

Finding Egg Drop soup has been challenging here too. I’m beginning to think that Egg Drop soup is more American than Chinese, just like chicken fried rice seems more American than Chinese. So I was thrilled to find the soup on the menu. Most Chinese soups are more like broth, clear, and with maybe a few veggies thrown in.

Lunar 8 is downstairs in the Fairmont Beijing. Go into the hotel and head down the stairs.