Inside a shoebox room, supposedly a clothing store, a row of
empty clothes hangers are visible. There is a dressing room, but it
doesn't matter, as there is no one there to try anything on, and
this store has nothing on sale. Instead, you can hear recordings of
people talking about their clothing.
This is CHAN store, an installation art project by Beijing-based
CHAN studio, participating in this year's Get It Louder
exhibition.
CHAN is among 130 or so artists from both China and abroad
demonstrating their creative works at the annual avant-garde art
exhibition, which opened in Shanghai on Saturday.
Artworks on show include installations, fashion designs, videos,
sound art and more.
The artists just wrapped up a tour of the southern city of
Guangzhou, and will hit Beijing on August 16 before traveling onto
the southwestern city of Chengdu on September 13.
But long before the exhibition kicked off, a series of
small-scale gatherings have been held in several Chinese cities
since March, where participating artists demonstrated their
artistic ideas to a small group of onlookers selected from online
submissions.
Homeshow, as the gathering is called, is a new feature of this
year's Get It Louder exhibition. Usually being held at an artist's
home or studio, each Homeshow tries to prove that people don't have
to "wait for an art biennale to experience art," the exhibition's
website claims.
Since its inauguration in 2005, Get It Louder has been promoting
"creative life" and "art in life," offering spectators a glimpse of
contemporary art, mainly by young Chinese artists.
For more information about the Get It Louder exhibition, go to
its website: www.getitlouder.com
The concept CHAN store at the Get It
Louder 2007 Guangzhou Stop.
(CRI.com July 23, 2007)
