ARTISTS TALKING

# 46 [26 September 2007]

The Terracotta Army at Li Shan

We visited the Terracotta Army at Li Shan [Li Mountain]. The modelling of these soldiers is exquisite. It is quite astounding to see so many 2000 year old sculptures of such a high standard and in such good repair in one place. One of the most impressive things about these works is the fact that the museum is built around the archaeological dig, rather than the objects being shipped hundreds of miles away to some established museum in the capital. The dig is still active of course, and will be for many, many years. There are still many warriors that have not yet been unearthed and this raw element adds a real dynamic to the experience. We were shown around the site by Daoxuan’s daughter and Mr Zhang, one of the museum managers. The warriors are part of the army of Emperor Qin, the first emperor [259-210 BC]. His mausoleum is about a mile away from where the army was found. The mausoleum is dug into the ground with the soil forming a large mound above ground equal to the unearthed space below. Many such burial mounds pepper the landscape in this part of Shaanxi Province [Xi’an is the ancient capital of China, and is in fact the geographical centre of the Middle Kingdom]. These mounds reminded me of ancient long barrows/barrow mounds, the Neolithic tombs that are still evident across Britain [although these date from around 2000 BC].

# 45 [26 September 2007]

Harvest time in rural China

# 44 [26 September 2007]

Agricultural Festival

One of our visits was to the Agricultural Festival, a harvest festival held at the mausoleum of one of the Emperors high in the hills north east of XIanyang [I fear I have forgotten which Emperor]. Amazingly enough, we were the guests of honour for this opening. Many of the local people had never seen foreigners before, so we were of great interest to them. Many people crowded around us staring, but as always the crowds were gentle and completely unthreatening. The sky was clear and the sun was hot. The air was fresh and pungent.

Of course, the harvest was particularly evident here in rural China. All along the streets and lanes corn [maize] was growing in endless fields, and was cut and dried in the sun along every street and lane. Apples were the next most prolific produce followed closely by sweet potatoes.

We had some lovely meals during this trip, all organised by Daoxuan. Frequently lunches were in what seemed like villagers’ homes and the food was wonderful. The dishes seemed more varied and interesting than our experience so far in Beijing, and being vegetarian was no problem at all with Dao’s myriad choice of dishes. We had a lot of vegetable dumplings [my favourite and hard to ask for without language], some wonderful aubergine preparations, green beans, chilli tofu hotpots, noodle soups and so on and so on. This is the best Chinese food I have ever tasted, and what’s more it is so healthy. I always feel good when I eat Chinese food. Chinese tea [cha – where ‘a cuppa char’ so obviously comes from] is served at every meal.

# 43 [26 September 2007]

Xi’an [the definition is 'west', 'safe place'] and Xianyang ['sunshine']

We arrived in Xi’an early, and Daoxuan picked us up and ferried us to Xianyang, about 20 minutes down the road by car. During our stay we met up with Geoff Hogg and the RMIT Masters in Public Art students who were coincidentally in Xianyang at the same time. Cameron came with Geoff and RMIT in 2000 and constructed a pebble and stone mosaic with the students from that year in Wei Bin Park, Xianyang. We went to look at this mosaic to see how it was faring. The locals were using the stones for foot massage! The largest stones and pebbles were all rubbed smooth and glossy from this constant attention! The mosaic was in great shape, all stones remaining firmly in place. It was good to see it used as part of the daily activities of the park goers.

# 42 [20 September 2007]

Overnight Train to Xi’an

We are off on the night train to Xi’an in a few hours. A 13 hour journey. I managed to get us soft sleepers rather than hard sleepers or soft/hard seats [which don’t sound much fun!] There are many variables when travelling by train including train speed. Also, you can only book a one-way ticket, and you can only book up to 5 days in advance. As a foreigner it is extremely difficult to know how to book what you want, so you need to have local contacts who can book for you. Again Denise, who seems to be a font of wisdom, had this info.

Xi’an is where the terracotta army was discovered during the early 1970s, so it will be very interesting. I read a great review in the Guardian Online of the 20 or so terracotta soldiers that are currently on loan to the British Museum. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2162551,00.html

Unfortunately I will be out of town for the Beijing Art Fair [20th-23rd Sept] and also the opening of the DIAF – Dangdai International Art Festival.

Cameron, Jake and I have just registered ourselves at the cop shop. Apparently, this is something we should have done within 24 hours of arrival, but we had no knowledge of it. Cathy [Busby] got spot-checked by the cops yesterday while walking along Tuanjiehu Lu, which I think was somewhat alarming for her. Anyway, the process was fairly informal in the end and now we are all legally ‘here’ so mei wenti [no problem].

# 41 [18 September 2007]

Mu Tian Yu - The Great Wall of China

Of course we had to see the Great Wall. Mr Shen, who drives for Brian and Red Gate, took us there and back. A great experience, up in the high hills that are to the north of Beijing. Lovely, clear moist air, bird and insect song. Hard climbing at times – high steps in some places and tiny low ones in others. We got there before the crowds and walked to a tip beyond the ‘official’ tourist route. Did a recording from this spot. The mist was thick and the hills were just visible as fading grey outlines receding in the distance.

# 40 [16 September 2007]

Talking to locals in Tuanjiehu Park

I decided to try to find out what local people think of crickets and cicadas. I asked Kelly [Song Nan is her Chinese name] to translate a few basic questions and photocopied sheets of these to hand out in Tuanjiehu Park. I did this for a couple of hours today armed with clipboards, stools and pens. It was quite successful and I am eager to find out what people have written. I was doing this close to the water calligraphers, who were interested in what I was up to. One water calligrapher, one of the teachers, was telling me a lot in Chinese which I could not understand, of course, but then a younger man, Min, who has been studying water calligraphy at the park for 2 years, helped to translate. One of the questions I asked was whether there was a correlation between insect song [or natural sounds in general] and Chinese music. The teacher said there definitely was, and that I should look at poetry from the Tang Dynasty, which illustrates this well.

# 39 [16 September 2007]

The cicadas - cryptotympana atrata [hei za chan] and platypleura kaempferi [hui gu].

# 38 [16 September 2007]

Institute of Zoology

Cam and Jake came with me for a second visit to see Dr Liu this morning. Dr Liu had a number of specimens for me to photograph including gampsocleis gratiosa [guo guo’er]. Ai_ping sent over specimens of cryptotympana atrata [hei za chan] and platypleura kaempferi [hui gu]. Good to see what these creatures look like – particularly the cicadas, which I have not been able to spot in the parks. It is a shame that the colours of the insects do not preserve well in collections, however – the guo guo’er was a dark brown rather than the vibrant green of a living one. Cam helped set up and take the photographs in Dr Liu’s lab. Dr Liu then showed us some of the collection they have housed there. It is a brand new storage system with huge cabinets on rollers with geared handles for easy manoeuvring. Again, she was very generous with her time and took us for a tasty Chinese lunch afterwards – very kind.

# 37 [8 September 2007]

Cameron and Jake arrive tonight, so the second phase of my residency will begin! You may notice a new blog on the list from another Red Gate artist - Cathy Busby. She is a Canadian artist and has decided to blog on this site too. We are living in close proximity in Tuanjiehu and are both here till the end of October. Incidentally, I can now pronounce Tuanjiehu well enough so that taxi drivers understand what I am saying and do not need to look at a map - a great achievement!