Sanlun Yishu-Urban Experience

In this assignment, you will submit a video to Sanlun Yishu, an artist-run collaborative project and international competition. This theme is open to interpretation, but should draw a connection to how an individual defines his/her self.... relative to the collective city. The artists creating this project, Lee Somers and Elisabeth Pellathy, have been kind enough to provide us with some questions that should help guide your initial response.

We will discuss the assignment as a group, and come up with a handful of directions this project could take.

You will be required to provide a written proposal that details a concrete idea, plan and production schedule. On Monday October 13th, proposals will be discussed during individual meetings. You are welcome to use any combination of software, wetware, and media that you see fit. Your video should run between 2:30 and 5:00 minutes and will be compressed using quicktime.

We will be reading portions from Relational Aesthetics, and the reading response will be due on Wednesday October 22.

Also, I'm handing out portions of A Pattern Language as a gift. You don't have to read it, but it's suggested.

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A few questions we think about in our urban experience:

How does it all connect? In cities there are highways by-ways, one way streets, subways, buses, cars, pedicabs, and bicycles all going in different directions. How does the web of activity connect / disconnect our experiences on the streets?

Is the fundamental human connection to nature compromised in city living?

How do we condition ourselves to reside in an artificial environment, and what parts of ourselves do we lose in the process? What do we gain?

Cities are known for spontaneity and excitement. There is something happening everywhere and at any time. But how much of this is just face- value routine?

Where is the true excitement -- that magic that gives the air electricity?

A city is a cultural expression. What are our cities saying? How much input do we have? As globalization advances, what distinguishes one city from another? Does a place have an inherent spirit, or is a city's flavor a product of circumstance?

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From the competition announcement:

Sanlun Yishu is an artist-run, collaborative project based in Beijing, China. We are assembling a collection of artwork from all over the world to be exhibited in and distributed by a mobile gallery, Sanlun Yishu, in various parts of Beijing.

Our mission is to provide contemporary artists a venue outside the traditional gallery to exhibit their work while giving people who likely have little or no exposure to art with an unobtrusive, positive and interactive art experience.

Vehicle:
- san (three) lun (wheel) che (vehicle) ­ a versatile, cheap and compact tricycle made from modified motorcycles or bicycles. Small yet mighty, the workhorse of Beijing moves everything from lumber to passengers. Often employed as a low-budget, local taxi.

- san (three) 轮lun (wheel) 艺术yishu (art) ­ a mobile gallery, a custom-made sanlun che housing an exhibition of print, drawing, sound, and video selected specifically for this context. The primary function is to facilitate personal interaction with art for an audience outside the scope of the traditional gallery.

The sanlunche is one of the most popular ways of getting around the city. Our project, Sanlun Yishu, will retrofit the standard sanlunche, turning it into a mobile gallery. This gallery will house artworks from people around the globe working in various media and carry them into the stream of daily transportation.

Location
Our project is based in Beijing, China. The neighborhood is Wang Jing, in the north-east corner of the city on the fourth ring road. Although Wang Jing is our headquarters, Sanlun Yishu will operate in various neighborhoods of the city.Each route that Sanlun Yishu drives will be charted and labeled, creating a new map of the city.

Events & Timeline
Development: June ­ Nov. 2008
This phase will include project publicity, collection of artwork worldwide, and the purchase and customization of the vehicle that will become Sanlun Yishu.

Operation: Nov. 2008 ­ March 2009
Sanlun Yishu will hit the streets, touring neighborhoods around Beijing, bringing the art to the people. The exhibit will be changed for each day of operation. Documentation and feedback will be collected daily.

Exhibit and Publication: April 2009
Sanlun Yishu will publish a catalogue of selected dialogues between the participants (artists and passengers) and documentation of the operation phase. A Beijing gallery will exhibit Sanlun Yishu and all work related to it.

General Information
Artists are asked to submit their work to Sanlun Yishu in the spirit of collaboration. No work will be bought or sold while in the mobile gallery. It is a purely non-profit, public and global art project to promote contemporary art-awareness.

Works selected for exhibition will be reproduced in editions specified by the artist in dimensions appropriate to the vehicle. These reproductions will be taken by the passenger/participants in Beijing, who will in turn leave a creative response or a piece of ephemera in exchange for the work. These responses will then be forwarded electronically to the artist, who may choose to continue collaboration with this feedback.

Selected results of these dialogues will be published in a catalogue and exhibited in a Beijing gallery at the end of the project. When the exhibition is completed all work-specific feedback will be mailed to the artists for their keeping.

All participants will be invited to show their original work or works pertaining to the project at a gallery in Beijing at the end of the project. Details will be provided as they become available.

Submitted works should touch on the theme of the "urban experience". This theme is open to the interpretation of the artist, but works should be aimed at drawing a connection to life in the city.

Two-dimensional, sound and video art is ideally suited to the project, but three-dimensional artists are encouraged to submit documentation of their work for display or make a proposal for incorporating your work in the project.

There is no entry fee. Initial submissions should be sent by e-mail, with appropriately sized images or video and sound clips (10 Mb per e-mail). Accepted artists will be notified and given a mailing address or FTP address to upload full-resolution work.

Send work to: submit@sanlunyishu.org

Please include this information:

Artist's name
Title of piece
Medium
Contact information