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[11.9.05] [Andrew Gallix]
BEIJING CALLING
 The 19th century was British. The 20th century was American. The 21st century will be Asian, which is why peripatetic Bill Goldman is now officially 3:AM's Man in Beijing. The 21st century starts here:
"Two weeks into my year or so in Beijing and I've discovered the hip, contemporary artists' quarter (not that there may not be others). It's an old warehouse area, you'd think there was nothing there at first glance, but in fact all the old warehouses are galleries, cafes, cool clothes shops and outlets for the artists. The clothes shop I went into has handmade, fashionable stuff, a bit expensive for China at about 2 quid for a blouse. First artist I meet is Ding Yi, who I think is still at art school. She does themed works consisting of paintings and tailor's dummies, the latter dressed in skirts and blouses made of painted paper. In one case the paper clothes have all been torn laterally in strips, which gives the work a particularly evocative feel somehow -- is it her skin or her clothes that has been thus torn? Is it the pain of lacerated skin that is being evoked or is it rather fashionably ragged clothes? Is the artist exploring the borderline between the two? That between fashion and the inability of clothes to really clothe us (disguise us?) at all? The Biblical idea of our righteousness being like mere "rags" comes to mind. Her gallery, or rather the gallery she's exhibiting in, is thus peopled with these strangely 'dressed' dummies, and paintings. Perhaps the dummies are looking at the paintings, like us? Or perhaps we are the dummies and the dummies are the real people? One of her paintings, hung on its own, is very openly Miroesque. The word 'Miro' is almost the only word we have in common, she and I. This week I must go back with Alex, my Chinese friend who speaks good English, and interview her properly".
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