Gallery at 3 On the Bund

Familiarity Breeds Contempt - Fashion

In America, I hear a lot of complaints about the same old uniforms available in the same old malls (familiarity breeds contempt), but it's nothing except getting tired of the same thing -- not that the quality of fashion has gone down hill. It's a regional thing. Novelty really pries open your sleepy eyes. Travelling fills your belly with great new style ideas from other parts of the world.

But, after you get full, you start noticing the details ... and when it comes down to it, if you're far away, you start longing for home. (But really, I wouldn't buy half the stuff out here in the market for lack of quality and value. Maybe something cool like a bright counterfeit bag or these little silver shoes I saw in a tiny shop would be worth it -- something I couldn't get somewhere else). I have the fewest pieces of clothing in rotation right now that I've had in maybe a decade. All of my pieces are compatible with every other one, and it's tolerable because I have a full time job that doesn't require me to dress creatively everyday (although that would be a fabulous job). Thinking about the clothing I wear everyday here, I only will say this: right now, I am dying to be back in a nice James Perse tee, a green Juicy velour, a fitted pair of Earls ... with my hair in a ponytail, a string of white pearls, and loafers.

Yo La Tengo and Rei Kawakubo

Currently Playing And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, Yo La Tengo - Our Way to Fall

I met some Americans at Arch last night, and I must admit, one of the most intriguing things I heard (among many) is that I can get leather goods handmade by design. A drawing of a bag --> maker with tools, shop, and material --> a bag. Incredible ... the cost of labor.

I've never been so acutely aware and unaware of economic inequality anywhere. Nor have I so tangibly felt my presence on this world. The leaves crunch loudly under my feet.

But man, I am CRAVING nachos and a fresh guacamole ... no matter how authentic the Chinese food is, 'California food' is like nothing in the world: a different cuisine every meal, the freshest tastiest produce, organic gourmet, anything I like in walking distance. However, I have had some Shanghai crabs ... they are quite yum.

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Currently Reading Rei Kawakubo and Comme Des Garcons (A Blueprint monograph)By Deyan Sudjic -- Interesting read from the office:

"...a bewildering assault on the senses. They are lined with buildings positioned according to no obvious spatial pattern and with so complete an absence of visual coherence that one begins to suspect the presence of an underlying order based on systematic disorder. Zoning in the European sense simply does not exist--petrol stations and love hotels jostle with fashionable restaurants and luxury shops.

Facades are awash with shimmering neon by night and almost invisible by day behind the tangle of cables that festoons them.Yet these banal buildings frequently hide interiors designed with a sophistication and craftsmanship unmatched anywhere else in the world, as if it were the role of the interior designer to create a sense of identity within this chaotic context....

In the hunt for the next novelty, ideas are seized on, exploited and plagiarized with breathless haste before finally being discarded as outmoded. In such an environment, the way an object is presented has become as important as what it is. Hence the design of a shop interior has attained the status of a minor art form."

Mismatch between inside and outside ...

French Concession and a Maoming Dive Bar

I'm living in the French Concession and paying 1000 RMB per month rent, which means I live in the poshest part of town in the shabbiest apartment. The kitchen is shared and the bathroom is down the hallway. But,on the bright side: I am at a crossroads of the city's most well known bar and club streets, and just a short taxi ride away from the Bund. Nonetheless, I get a good share of vermin. I have made friends with this little cockroach that sometimes hangs out next to the kitchen sink.

A few days ago, I went out with my cousin's old college buddies, Leslie and Rikako to a ... dive bar ... on Maoming Rd, where we watched a sizeable rat skitter across the moulding on the wall. Leslie was disgusted while Rikako thought it was cute (Rikako owns a dachsund who she calls her son). Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to step into the only empty bar on the entire street, the one that has an enormous stuffed condor on a mantle near the entrance. (I imagined it was the sort of bar frequented by old bespectacled taxidermists with a fondness for socially outcast critters). Anyway, this sort of thing is just common fare. Fellows spit on the sidewalk, and don't stand in lines. Disorder is a kind of order this way. Neon lights cast an eerie glow on the bar-going crowd, a mix of yuppies, hipsters, expats, society ladies, street sweepers, taxis, Audis, sidewalk rubble and 60-storey towers. They all share the same space, and it's strange and lovely.

Magazines and Fashion

I stopped at this young woman's store today (sells hair accessories, magazines, and novels) and they let you read all the magazines for free as long as you like! Since I have a total glossy fetish, I couldn't help but step inside. I love the sheer number and nature of these Chinese glossies, though a lot of them demonstrate the same crazy posh aesthetic. They get all the major international names (L'Official, Madame Figaro, Bazaar, etc) and have a bunch of local magazines with high caliber layout and style. I like to see great editors evolve the tastes of the everyday person. Also, it's nice to see A LOT OF ASIAN MEN as SEXUAL ICONS in the media. There is a whole men's magazine this month (T.O.M. I think) devoted to the topic: "metrosexual;" not that I laud this subject matter, but I love the abundance (in all sorts of publications) of the hot, well-dressed (Chinese) man. That's one thing I know I'll miss when I get back to the states.

The magazine portrayal of women is good--not terribly hyper sexualized po-mo dominators (US), not as much young cutesy girls in poses (Japan). Chinese women's fashion is eclectic and raw. By the way, did you know you can get eyelid surgery in Shanghai for 2000 RMB (less than 300 USD) and a nose job for about 3000? (I found this out talking to Danielle's friend, Leslie, who is a journalist).

Chinese fashion is a combination of everything; the streets are way heterogeneous. It's starting to grow on me. The dynamic of the city -- the utter heterogeneity (posh and poor are totally side by side -- there's no uptown or downtown class-wise) is invigorating. I've got so much to write, but so little time...some links: (from a recent google search on the topic of Hedi Slimane)

Hint Magazine
BookLounge
and a Chinese women's mag called Frends.

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Pudong--the large popsicle being the Pearl Tower. SOM will be in charge of redeveloping the entire Huang Pu waterfront (the river that divides Shanghai into Puxi, the Bund / European colonial side, and Pudong, the 2nd tallest building in the world / tacky capitalist side) .... (is design just adding value to things that are otherwise very cheap?)Candy-coated bladerunner! These images might disappear, if and when the pic hosting I'm using gets blocked by the national firewall. Then, these images will be a thin sliver of a thought slicing gently across the haze of my po-mo memory ... just like after I leave. For now, I will let eyes dance.

Glitches in SketchUp

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Styrofoam Schematics at Work

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Glitches in SketchUp I

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On the Job

This is what I did today. This is my very first assignment on the job, which is a low priority thing for a developer client. It's a office building on a huge planned commercial lot. The buildings around it are totally tool-y and corporate. So then, what fits in more than another toolish, square building for sweaty guys in ill-fitting suits? I was carrying the model down to the tennis court to take pics, and ran into the principal in the hallway. He said, "It reminds me of one of those cosmetics display cases!" I said, "Right on!" Later he said something like, German designs are too dry for Chinese clients. MVRDV, baby! I gotta finish it tomorrow ... damn.

(Yep, that's SketchUp! This office does all their schematics on SketchUp.) Don't worry, I'm hoping it doesn't get built, too. We are waiting for the corporate people to be confused by the strange protruding boxes.

First Bit on the Job

Something that pervades the Shanghai markets: Lots and lots of bootlegged goods! Smash the Intellectual Property! Capitalize on the Capitalist Roadsters!

I will take a picture of the office once I get my camera back. (Did I mention that I realized I forgot to bring it when I was at SFO?) I will take lots of photos of crazy stuff around town. Like the deer head in the window display of a medicine shop. The old dudes in beaters who gather around chess tables on weekends. The little tiny live crabs for sale. The lovely view from my office window: a smokestack, a hospital, bamboo scaffolding, a bright orange low-rise apartment building (that looks like it comes from Panoramic Interests' portfolio! Eek), the sports stadium, a concrete bridge, and lots and lots of highrises on the smoggy horizon.

First assignment: office building facade schematic design. 75m x 25m x 25m!Second assignment: planned community design competition! 250 sq.km!

Howdy!

Oscar's and Zapata's

Being a good girl, I am constantly on the up and up. (Not the down and down!) It has been a grueling (hmm...) first week on the job. Rather unstructured, but certainly interesting. Having some difficulty in communication with colleagues. It makes me appreciate the common language of English! Nonetheless, must not halt in my pursuit to improve Chinese. So far, I've only been to two bars (and both in one night!): Oscar's and Zapata's. Will improve my record soon. Gotta start focusing on what I need to get done instead of being irked by dirtiness of the city (longing for lovely, smog-free Bay Area). Really enjoy watching old people dancing at night, which is a common occurence. Swishing around town in a taxi, the city is a place for money-makers. Needs a place for status-breakers. Shanghai is an infinitely beautiful city ... at night. It is simply lovely at night. Once I figure out where everything is, get over tummy aches (really craving french fries), and get more energy to hang out, will start doing the check off list! Want to see someone who is hesitant to come ...

A Facial and Loving Your Family

Tonight I feel really great. Specifically, my immaculate skin. lol.

I got a facial today with my cousin, Danielle, and her friend. It was so relaxing that while my face was being massaged with exfoliating cream, I fell asleep and had a short dream. Being in Shanghai for about five days, I realize I have a lot to learn from my cousin. One being: take care of your skin. Another being: love your family. Three being (something that Siqi told me and has stuck in my mind for a while): it doesn't hurt to be pleasant. Danielle is 27 and very, very cool.Another very cool thing about being here is that my life is so pared down. I barely "own" anything right now. Living with my cousin in a tiny apartment (I mean about 100 square feet) that's already crammed with a few pieces of furniture, I don't have a lot of room to stash things. Danielle cleared out two drawers and a tiny bureau for my things. I have a little case of clothes. Two drawers of things. No overwhelming obligations. (Although expectations are another matter).I start work at the tiny office on Tuesday. I will walk to work at 8:00 AM with my T41 in my backpack. It takes about half an hour to get there. I want to get there before 9:00 AM so I can get the lunch stipend (which is 8 RMB).

Today I hung out with my cousin. (The past few days, I've been shown around town, taking the bus, the subway, the taxi ... toured the office, bought groceries, attempted to make pasta, eaten really upscale fusion hotpot, got a cell phone for about 100 USD, opened a bank account, vowed never to go to the Starbucks on Huai Hai Road -- ie Prada bag foreigners central, got a domestic phone card, kept hooking up via dial-up) We went to the spa and then ate at a Hunan restaurant, which was also fusion! (But "fusion" doesnt seem to carry the same kind of snobbishness as in the States).

There's so much to talk about, I can't even begin to cover it. I just want to remind myself that there is a cowboy boot shop on DongHu (East Lake) Street. To be continued

...PS I am working for that arch firm I talked about, and Danielle works at this PR firm called Burson-Marsteller. At work, I might be doing something for a government competition. YAY! COMPETITION WORK!

THE CITY: Sept 11, 2004

(This is might be a grim entry. Sorry! I will definitely include more details about daily life soon).Playing catch up. Catching up with the first world. Fake designer handbags. Disastrous?

China has been both lovely and bewildering. What I realize more than anything now is that I should be more tolerant of those who don’t have the same opinions that I do. I too easily dismiss them as ignorant. People cannot always be held responsible for their lack of awareness. (ie lack of sensitivity to their own condition, to the disruption of art) Especially those whose individual knowledge access is disrupted or just plain denied by the government. (But also, I should not doubt the kind of ‘awareness’ obtained in school as merely elitist Western views. There are basic problems in the kind of development here.

But the question is really: if development is so cruel to the human being, what is the alternative? Take it slower and miss the future? Create better systems of social welfare and wealth distribution? Better education … is that impossible in this country, where censorship is ok?)What I see in Shanghai is an eagerness to be a world-class city at such a speed that the society and future will inevitably bear the debt. I wondered why the faces on the street don’t see it. These faces seem either content or staidly passive to such sudden, life-altering moves. They’ve stood through sweeping social change, and are not destructively self-reflective, without a sense of anger. (Is this because the pervasive poverty that existed just less than sixty years ago, if not less, is such a stark stark contrast? So many more people with the improved opportunity to take care of themselves and their families, to live comfortable, modern lives?)

Instead, the city is a beacon of progress -- the hopes of a nation entering the global stage, by image first. The first step is to look like an international city. Under education makes tastes in this respect quite “counterfeit” – inauthenticity, and inauthenticity is not just a Westerner’s construct. This is not a light-hearted disruption of the elitism of so-called intellectual property rights. This is a matter of quality and human welfare. This irks me so much – the city is compromising its own cultural development for the sake of speed. Quantity over quality. Architectural mass production. (Inherent low quality—there is not enough time for design development.) A blatant co-opting of styles that seem (to the uneducated eye) progressive.

This then leads to (I think) business. Which means, earning enough money to satisfy and maintain that image. Cleanliness, health, improving progress at basic levels are very low level priorities. (If they are intending to reach a certain per capita level in hopes that it will eventually disperse – when would that happen? Who is worth so little to step on along the way?)What interests me about desire is why it exists. Shanghai desires to be a world-class city. Why? To reach a standard of living so eventually everyone can have an equal opportunity to live a comfortable, healthy (well-educated?) life? (Money=communal wealth?) To make more and more money as an urban entity for those who accumulate the benefits at the price of the rest? To gain international prestige and acceptance for the pride of the nation? To bury the shame of what it is not?

Sept 09, 2004

Currently ReadingBuilding Codes Illustrated: A Guide to Understanding the International Building CodeBy Francis D. K. Ching, Steven R. Winkel, Francis D. K. Ching, Steven Winkel, AIAsee related
MUST ... FIND ... FREE ... WIFI ... ASAPNEAR ... KANG PING ROAD. HUAI HAI ROAD. WAN PING ROAD.HELP!

Sept 02, 2004

Ready to fly out in 24 hours.