Pekin Bytes

springtime snow

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 23:42:33 +0800

springtime snow

Springtime “snow”

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 23:41:23 +0800

Springtime “snow”

First frost

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 20:34:26 +0800

First frost

STAY TUNED...

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 05:51:02 +0800

I have gotten some questions already, and realized I should probably say here that the project will launch first week of OCTOBER 2012!

What is PRANJA?

Sat, 05 May 2012 05:06:35 +0800

Pranja is the Buddhist term for wisdom or understanding…more specifically the level of wisdom that leads to enlightenment. It is also described as “knowledge or vision in accordance with reality”, and penetrating the defining essence of things to abolish the darkness of delusion. For me, travel and engaging with other cultures is an integral part of this practice.

This blog is the interactive component to an installation at La Porte Peinte Centre pour les Arts in Noyers Sur Serein, France. As part of my show Pilgrim, there is an installation which invites visitors to surrender to a particular space designed to inspire wanderlust and pondering about why we travel.

I invite everyone who has experienced the work to comment here about a simple question:

WHY DO YOU TRAVEL?

Balance - Less IS More

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 13:07:01 +0800

I have been back in Beijing for a week now, after 2 months in Europe, and today I had some interesting thoughts about balance. Myself, in my daily routine, am trying to find the proper balance…as I am not really working it is all too easy to spend an entire day basically doing nothing, sleeping, eating, working out…being online…but of course for me that only lasts so long before I get really antsy and feel the need to be productive…for now this means making art or finding grants.

But today I did also have to run an errand, go to the Lomo store to drop off film for developing. ON my way I had to pass through Sanlitun Village, which is pretty much the “5th/Madison Avenue” of Beijing in some ways…chock full with designer stores. As I biked past Balenciaga, Versace, Lanvin…I smiled and thought of a former life…when I used to toil at Vanity Fair, and fashion and luxury was a part of my life in a way that it isn’t anymore.

It seems strange to me that in all my travels around the world, it is usually the people with the less seem to have more, non-materially of course. And naturally, I don’t mean people who have nothing…I mean people who live comfortably without excess…these people seem to have found a good balance, and as such live happy content lives. Compared to many people I know who have A LOT, it is sad to think that so many people in this world believe that material wealth leads to spiritual wealth.

Of course I feel that for me to even be thinking about these things is in some ways, how do I put it…not hypocritical but just uhhh…easy? I mean, here I am, someone who lives pretty much by my own rules, who lives comfortably, and never really had to work THAT hard, at least I don’t feel I have. I’ve been a lucky dog, so its easy for me to say that striving for excess isn’t necessary…mostly because I have been able to get what I want without breaking my back…but then I guess that doesn’t discount my ideas either.

I guess all I am really trying to say is that I hope that someday even if I do gain material wealth, I will not let it change me and my views on balance and less is more. I hope that I will not become greedy, and revert back to coveting possessions, aspiring for more for the sake of more. I hope that I will be able to share my wealth with everyone, not just friends and family but strangers too. This is what I hope for…

First snow in Beijing for winter of 2010.

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 11:30:46 +0800

First snow in Beijing for winter of 2010.

IL NEIGE!!!

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 11:21:31 +0800

As anyone who knows me well can attest to, snow is on my very top list of things that excite me in such a way that I can really do nothing to contain myself. Like a hopeless tickling feeling I automatically smile when I see snow and every winter long for the mornings when one wakes up in a world transformed by white fluffs that make you see everything anew…which is why I was so surprised today when I didn’t even notice it had snowed until a good half an hour after I got out of bed! Granted, living on the 22nd floor you don’t really see much accumulation unless you look down onto the ground, and it really was snowing so lightly that you could barely see the flakes. But when light seeped into the day and I was making my bed I suddenly turned around and thought, “strange…it doesn’t look quite like the normal ‘fog’ aka polluted sky today” and I walked to the window and to my amazement saw that indeed, it had and was snowing!!! FINALLY, after so much talk about how it had been more than 3 months since Beijing last saw any form of precipitation, we were rewarded and gifted a snowy February day.

Naturally I got very excited and started taking photos, and plan on doing so in the afternoon as well, as soon as I can escape from work and head over to the park by our office. But it just reminds me how every single day is a gift, and a surprise, and that this is the beauty of life. Just when you least expect something, when you’ve all but given up the last strands of hope that something will happen, you can wake up and see snow and that changes everything. Snow changes the way we see because it is like a filter, it covers some parts and leaves others uncovered. It shows us where we have been and others too with the prints we leave behind, footsteps that otherwise go unnoticed, lost forever. Snow softens and stills the world, it makes us move slower so we take time to appreciate small details like the way a tire track cuts beautiful patterns through the streets or how lovely it clings to the tops of tree branches.

Thank you snow, I’ve been waiting for you all winter, its good to finally receive you and if I wasn’t in the most polluted city in the world, I’d even lick you :)
A cute tribute to snow that I copied from a gallery show wall a month ago:
Every molecule of snow or ice is a real companion, cheerful, even tempered, with whom you can always chat and who always finds something nice to say to you. - Jonathan Tichenor

No turning back...

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:06:35 +0800

This has pretty much nothing to do with Beijing, save for the fact that the idea I am about to describe came to me while I was walking down the street in CaoChangDi, in Beijing.

Beijing is a city with A LOT of cars…too many cars in fact. And actually what is interesting is the number of very expensive luxury cars that cruise around. I haven’t been to LA in a while but I am sure that that city also has an overabundance of Range Rovers, Porsche SUVs and a sprinkling of super high end Maseratis, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins, etc etc. And since there is SUCH BAD traffic, you can really sit and look at these cars, they stay pretty still most of the time and I would be surprised if any of them ever get to drive much faster than 50mph on a regular basis.

When I was growing up I used to be OBSESSED with cars…so much so that I would order car brochures in the mail. Of course, I was only obsessed with luxury cars, BMWs, Mercedes, Lexus, etc. My sister used to laugh at me and say, “Dude, by the time you are old enough to actually drive those cars won’t be NEW anymore!” which of course was true. What a damn waste of paper that was come to think of it…tsktsktsk.

I did eventually get a car, and I am ashamed to admit that it was not an environmentally friendly car, it was a gas guzzling Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV…and I really loved it and got a lot of use out of it zipping around the Berkshires. Even though I had a perfectly nice comfortable reliable car, back then I still coveted luxury cars and in the back of my mind wanted to be sitting behind the wheel of a Beamer, which was always my dream car…HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED.

The other day a Porsche SUV rolled by me on the street and I suddenly found myself NOT wanting to be driving it. Instead I thought to myself, “Gee, I would hate to drive that thing…it is so conspicuous and irresponsible to drive anything but a hybrid car these days.” No sooner had the thought popped into my mind when the follow up thought came, “Are you just being sour grapes Lucas….cuz you know you can’t AFFORD one even if you wanted a Porsche.” But the real honest truth is that no, even if tomorrow someone was to gift me the keys to any car in the world I would stick with a hybrid or electric car, because I can’t in good conscience be who I am and drive anything but. AND I have to credit the Seltzers (the first people I know to have a hybrid) with showing me the meaning of putting your ideas and principles into actions in everyday life. So I guess all those brochures did go to waste, because now I’m convinced that I will never ever find myself sitting behind the wheel of any luxury car…but thats just what education does to you I guess…

2011 Already!

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:39:00 +0800

So yesterday’s evening ended up being a lot more eventful than I anticipated, which is always a good thing! After work I went to the gym before dressing to go to a new friend’s place for dinner. Thursday night a friend was in town from Shanghai and I met up with him and also met one of his friends who lives here, Jeff. Jeff asked what I was doing and didn’t seem impressed by my massage+wii mariokart alone in my apt plan so invited me for dinner at his place so I accepted. Nothing like starting off a new year with brand new friends right (especially when your old ones are all away!)
I call for a cab from my apt and when I go downstairs the doorman point to one outside but I am confused at first because there is already a woman sitting in the passenger seat (and usually most Chinese sit in the front anyway when they are taking cabs). I get in and tell the driver where to go. He is middle aged and so is she. Naturally when I start speaking directions they ask me where I am from since I do not have a Beijing accent. We start conversing and I divine that they must be a couple, which of course I thought was super cute, she keeps him company while he drives the cab…though I didn’t get to asking if this was an everyday thing or just special for “last day of the year” (that is how he referred to Dec 31st rather than New Years). They were very nice and chatty and being Chinese of course started telling me about all the different traditional Beijing foods I should try. He also said something funny..”How do you like Western food? I don’t really like Western food…don’t you think the palate is quite limited, compared to Chinese food? Chinese food has such a wide variety and complexity of tastes!” Something else he said that I thought was interesting was “There are not that many people out tonight…for a Friday…because its the last day of the year and people don’t want to get into any accidents…they want to make it through the ENTIRE year without an accident so that they will have another year like this coming up” a theory that was new to me…
I get to Jeff’s and he lives in a very nice bachelor pad with a tiny kitchen where he is busy with preparations. Just a little mini bio…Jeff is Chinese, 34 but looks 24, holds 3 passports (Oz, British, and Taiwan), and is a pianist turned make up artist turned doctor specializing in diabetes and doing his PhD here in Beijing for the next 3 years. He has an upright piano in his place and later in the evening I persuade him to serenade us with some Chopin before dessert. Two more friends arrive and its the four of us for dinner…with 7 dishes! Somehow he is able to whip out of that tiny kitchen, without a proper stove…Taiwanese sausage, a chicken dish, an entire fish head to tail, pork belly, sauteed veggies, bruschetta, and soup!!!! All of it incredibly delicious and I am totally in SHOCK. He even topped the meal off with super tasty cups of fresh fruit, yogurt, honey, and rose petal preserves (my favorite). I mean, this guy seriously brings a new level of overachiever in my mind hahaha…
After dinner we sat around and drank champagne…at around 11 I cancelled my massage appointment since I was having so much fun just hanging out…and Ethan (one of Jeff’s friends) complained about having a neck ache as he is a computer programmer so Jeff disappears and comes back with ACCUPUNCTURE needles…he does a number on Ethan and since Ethan says, WOW I FEEL GREAT I have him do my back too. So actually at midnight I started the year lying down on a couch with needles on my back!!! :) We pretty much forgot to count down so just had a toast. Eventually at 2am Ethan leaves and we pop in a movie about this dancer who defected from China to the US based on a true story…and by the end we are all pretty much tearing from this very emotional scene when he is reunited with his parents many years later. Finally at 420am I catch a cab home and pass out…after I drunkenly hang up the laundry I had put in earlier, because even when inebriated I know that wet laundry + left in machine = stinky clothes!
SO, this is how I am starting off 2011…new friends, needles in my back, great food in my tummy! :) LOVE IT.

Ollie is all grown up…well not really I think he’ll...

Mon, 27 Dec 2010 15:51:28 +0800

Ollie is all grown up…well not really I think he’ll get even bigger! MUCH bigger.

Xmas Eve hot pot dinner…before we get there…next to...

Mon, 27 Dec 2010 11:05:54 +0800

Xmas Eve hot pot dinner…before we get there…next to my apt, you can see China’s 2nd biggest tv screen…its I dunno, the size of a soccer field?

I heart radio

Mon, 27 Dec 2010 10:43:32 +0800

Sometimes I forget that it is uncommon for people my age to love radio as much as I do. But then again, most kids growing up in America in the 90s watched far more tv than listened to the radio, if at all. Those who did mostly tuned into pop music stations rather than catch Morning Edition or Fresh Air or Piano Jazz. Not that I am any better for loving radio, indeed it wasn’t so much a choice as just out of circumstance. We lived in a place where cable tv did not really exist when I first moved to Cheechunk Road, so rather than buy a satellite we simply tuned into public radio. But today, all these years later, I am so glad for it. Because here I am sitting in my office in Beijing, and I can listen to Selected Shorts AND work simultaneously. Perhaps it is my familiarity with audio input that taught me how to multitask from an early age. One can’t really watch tv and do something else at the same time…but it is certainly possible to listen to a story or the news, and edit photos or clean the room or do laundry. Indeed it makes such tasks so much more fun and interesting. So I guess this is just a personal shout out, to myself, about how much I love the radio and how it can transport me, all the way across the ocean and more than a decade into the future, back to being a kid and sitting in my room in Goshen, just me and my radio! :)

The beginning of a ANOTHER documentary here at FAKE, but not...

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:32:45 +0800

The beginning of a ANOTHER documentary here at FAKE, but not about WW, rather the entourage around him…US!

Its official. I live in CaoChangDi, and I’ve inducted my...

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:58:42 +0800

Its official. I live in CaoChangDi, and I’ve inducted my transformation from part time artist to full time artist (whatever that means) by getting my haircut again by Weiwei this afternoon just before he left for Europe for a week. He was supposed to cut it on Friday but ended up going to a movie premier, otherwise Alison would have caught it on tape. Not that there is much to see about the experience I don’t think. For me its a delight because I never know what my hair is going to look like.

“I sit there, no mirror before me, and look out onto the courtyard at FAKE, enjoying the geometry of the door frames with the cube like buildings juxtaposed with the softness of bamboo stalks waving in the wind. Weiwei buzzes away at my hair, hoping from side to side for about 5 minutes until he looks at me and says, “Finished”. I bow over my seat and he thrashes me gently with the apron that was draped over me to get the hair off my neck. I get up and make my way to the bathroom mirror. Rather than giving me the ‘Guggenheim’ he has given me a haircut reminiscent of one of the angles in the ceiling of the gallery space of my house…I can’t quite describe it, but that is pretty much the magic of his haircuts, they defy description.”

Somehow it has become almost midnight. I have to get at least ONE new photo done before bed, time to get back to work.

Outside laser tag, I spied what looked like Chinese croquet...

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 23:09:34 +0800

Outside laser tag, I spied what looked like Chinese croquet being played by old men?!

A new beginning. It seems fitting that I am starting the new...

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:22:41 +0800

A new beginning.

It seems fitting that I am starting the new year (soon) in a new HOUSE. YES, I now also reside in a two story beautiful brick house designed by Ai Weiwei, in CaoChangDi, and it all came about simply because I asked him one day if there was space for me somewhere by the office to live. Commuting for 1.5 hrs in the freezing cold bus 2x a day was not really how I envisioned spending the rest of my winter! And voila, WW hands me keys yesterday afternoon and brings me over to my new abode.

I have a very interesting bedroom upstairs, which overlooks the staircase (for now). I am still thinking of how I want to creatively cover up most of this space, and I like the challenge. The large double height ceiling room will be filled with two dozen Norwegian design students working with us come end of January for a few months, so I am definitely looking forward to having so many new faces, and English speakers at that! :) Until then this amazing gallery space will play host to who knows what…Inserk and I already started planning, NYE party, getting a giant video projector to play Wii, racketball? Endless possibilities when you have a large empty room!

While we were looking over the space WW and I walked up the stairs and I pointed out him that you can see right into the downstairs toilet from the stairs but he just laughed and turned to me saying, “you’re an exhibitionist right?” I will clearly be using the UPSTAIRS bathroom! E-shyh will be my housemate which is great!

So, its the beginning of double residency for me in Beijing! I of course will also spend a few nights a week back at Central Park with Eddie, can’t leave my sister! But I’m over joyed to reclaim almost 15 hours of my life during a week (as Inserk smartly observed) formerly spent commuting! YIPEE!!!!

What to do on a Saturday night in the Beijing December winter...

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 22:32:26 +0800

What to do on a Saturday night in the Beijing December winter than make some photos, and listen to Beethovan’s Moonlight Sonata… digesting of course, Hainan Chicken with Rice. Apparently we have become so ubiquitous for this dish that the people who take the orders at Orchard 7 know our apt based on our order, which invariably includes this chicken a few times a week. There is the possibility of Tokyo in 5 weeks time. Would be lovely indeed.

Sunday night, baking night. Eddie comes home at 8pm from a...

Sun, 05 Dec 2010 20:52:16 +0800

Sunday night, baking night. Eddie comes home at 8pm from a champagne birthday brunch at the Westin…which started at 11am, soooo :)

I stayed home and did photos, what else is new, all day. But at least I also created a new one today…yay, proud father of another photo ha!

Never thought a bowl of flour could look so interesting!

Again, where did the month go?

Sat, 27 Nov 2010 13:51:08 +0800

Somehow it has been a month exactly since I last posted anything, and though I am not really so much surprised I am a bit stumped at how time manages to just slip past me like a fast but silent train. I am sitting at home on a sunny Saturday in silence, going through photos for Numero magazine, images from Cotahuasi Canyon from last year…waiting for some chicken rice and sambal eggplant to show up. I have been conversing since last night with people all over the globe via skype. Mat literally “sparked” ;) it off last night via London, then I chatted with Pablo briefly still in Bogota, followed by Arthur in NY and Tom as well, and even caught up with Raja in Kolkata before I passed out around 2am. Then just now a nice long chat with Joy in Portland…I feel like I’ve traveled the world and I didn’t even have to put my shoes on!

Still lots of work to do today, sadly still mostly in front of the computer but perhaps tonight I will let myself out of the house for something interesting…live music?? There is a folk music venue just around the corner, went there last week and it was packed so I didn’t stay, but perhaps today would be nice to check it out again. I cannot believe Thanksgiving came and went, deep fried turkey at Jeremy’s in CCD with a large group of expats, tons of fun…now Christmas and New Years will be here before I know it. Is Tokyo calling me? We shall see… :)