Ric Swenson on tue 19 dec 06
December 20, 2006, JingDeZhen, P.R. China, Ric Swenson
=20
Happy Holidays to all from China. The Christmas celebration here is an exte=
nsion for most people of the Feb 17-18 Spring Festival. Spring festival i=
s a time to have reunions with the family. Spring cleaning of the house bri=
ngs a fresh start for the year. Dumplings are the food of the season. Red l=
anterns adorn the houses and streets. Christmas eve I give one final test a=
nd Christmas Day I give two classes their finals. I will visit my family, =
in Atlanta between Jan 16 and Feb 22, when we have a winter break between t=
erms. The school pays for my travel both ways. We don=92t get paid a lot, b=
ut some of the perks are pretty nice.
=20
Santa and trees are everywhere now. Gifts will be presented to others and s=
pecial meals will be served. There are Christians here=85. and they will o=
bserve the =91keep Christ in Christmas=92 type of celebration and others wi=
ll give gifts and celebrate in their own Taoist/Buddhist ways. Interesting =
clash of cultures, but no load clash=85a soft mingling. The government seem=
s tolerant if not very supportive. Just today, my freshmen students present=
ed me with a decorated Christmas tree=85nearly brought me to tears=85they w=
ere so sweet and sincere=85they know I will not be with my family until aft=
er Jan 15 to go back to USA until Feb 22=85when I return to China for anoth=
er year=85., so they were very thoughtful and curious about how I would cel=
ebrate Xmas in the States. We sang carols for a half hour. Nice.
=20
Dumplings seem to be eaten on special occasions and it=92s no different in =
this region of central Eastern China. Bao dz and Jao dz are two types I ha=
ve tried and like very much.. One with pork, fried and the other with vege=
table filling and steamed There is an art to making these dumplings.=20
=20
The merchants, of course, take advantage of any opportunity to sell goods a=
nd services. And the drive to receive gifts comes from children and adults =
who have heard about this wonderful Santa guy. And his habit of giving gift=
s to those who have =93been good=94. I have been invited to several celebra=
tions and was approached by a young Christian gentleman last Friday who inv=
ited me to attend their Christian church service on the 24th or 25th.(I wil=
l go!...Dale and Jill take note!).
=20
I gave my lecture/slide talk last Friday to a S.R.O. houseful of artists an=
d art students at Caroline Cheng=92s Pottery Workshop at the Sculpture Fact=
ory close to the JCI old campus, where I live.
=20
I talked in English and Joey Tsao translated (and added his own comments, I=
think? He seemed to get laughs more than I did. Language barrier?). Just o=
ver an hour and I showed a lot of images of my previous and current works=
=85 on the digital computer setup from my flash stick memory device. (AC/DC=
instead of Power Point was used cause it=92s so much more simple.) My new =
images were all shot by a pro and look much nicer than my earlier photos. C=
areful lighting and no =93hot spots=94; a gray neutral background. and lots=
of pixels!=20
=20
My work in China has been influenced by my exposure to the culture and work=
done here. The materials I used are locally influenced / produced. My exh=
ibition opens Dec 22, Friday at 7 PM. There will be refreshments, flowers, =
birds and 6 dancing angels (students who will float around the gallery like=
angels to the tunes of =93I Believe I Can Fly=94). It should be fun.
=20
30 Chinese artists open their exhibition in the gallery on the first floor=
of the Pottery Workshop, that same night, so there will be a lot of folks =
at the two openings. Firecrackers will be used to attract attention as is t=
he usual form here in China. In the Buddhist tradition, I will release seve=
ral birds as a gesture of goodwill to nature=85.and =91wings=92 is the them=
e after all.
=20
I collaborated with several artists on some pieces. That keeps my thinking=
fresh and allows me to challenge other potters and sculptors to do somethi=
ng different and be truly creative, in my view. One artist added steel wing=
s to a tall celadon form. Another used wire and beautiful ribbon to form wi=
ngs on an unglazed porcelain textured form. Another used four of his painti=
ngs, on heavy paper, rolled in =91cone shapes=92 to add wing forms to a tal=
l yellow glazed porcelain form.=20
=20
In all I have 47 pieces to show. All are finished, but I must disassemble s=
ome in order to transport them by hand cart the 2 km. to the gallery this w=
eek. Students have volunteered to help me carry the pieces down the four fl=
ights of stairs of the dormitory and back up the second floor gallery at th=
e Workshop. I will also use some of the many ink sketches I=92ve made in th=
e past 6 months to adorn the walls of the gallery. I printed 2000 invitatio=
ns with a four-color process photo of a favourite winged jar. I will be del=
ighted if a few hundred folks show up. I certainly hope 2,000 people don=
=92t come=85YIKES! There would be no room to turn around!
=20
Carpenters, tile layers, plumbers and electricians wait on the East Bridge =
over the river. You can see them waiting with the saw a-ready, or buckets =
of cement and grout. This is where people looking for a craftsman for home =
repairs can come to find their guy to do the work.. You can tell an electri=
cian by his tool belt. Power is pretty much 240 volts. Codes seem to be li=
ttle enforced. Pretty simple wiring. Nothing like our tightly regulated and=
watched over power mavins in the USA. Here on the bridge there are no uni=
ons, no office, no overhead, no receipt, no problems, no worries.
=20
Sunny but chilly here now, =91the frost is definitely on the pumpkin=92. St=
udents wear MANY layers of clothing. There is no central heating. The clas=
srooms are NOT heated=85so I dress in layers also. Classes consist of two 5=
0 minute sessions back to back with a ten minute break between sessions, on=
ce a week. It=92s the same at Gao Zuan Art School where I teach Contemporar=
y Ceramic Arts. I use downloaded images of certain artists, potters, styles=
, countries, etc.. I use a flash stick to carry pictures to the college=92s=
computer projector=85certainly more convenient than the old Kodak Carousel=
projector with slides which I lugged around for so many years. (God bless =
Bill Gates and his ilk.)
=20
600 days until the Beijing Olympics. As one might expect, athletes here are=
heros to many of the youth. The Rockets NBA star Yao Ming and Liu Xiang ( =
the current 110 M hurdles world record holder at 12.88 seconds) are like go=
ds to the youngsters in China. The Asian Games at Doha have just finished t=
his past weekend. Asia=92s tune up for the Olympics. China took 116 gold me=
dals I believe. Korea was second with around 56.=20
=20
The Chinese are looking for 100,000 volunteers to help with the Olympics Ga=
mes, which start 8/8/08. Most of the volunteers will come from the Universi=
ties in Beijing, from what I hear. The pictures I=92ve seen of the track an=
d field stadium ( nicknamed =91the Bird=92s nest=92) and the natatorium for=
water sports which looks like water bubbles from the outside, will certain=
ly be finished in plenty of time for the games and feature some fantastic v=
enues.
=20
I must prepare for my exhibition opening Friday, so will close for now.
=20
Happy Holidays.to all=85. and remember to keep that stick on the ice!
=20
Ric
_________________________________________________________________
Type your favorite song.=A0 Get a customized station.=A0 Try MSN Radio powe=
red by Pandora.
http://radio.msn.com=
| |
|
