I miss you, and it's now November 2008. The weather is sunny, cool, and beautiful right now in Shanghai. You can find me here in a scarf, leather jacket, boots, and Chapstick. I've been working hard at m97 Gallery, a contemporary photography gallery, and finally decided to make a change. No more full time there, just 2 days a week. I'm also teaching English to some Shanghainese folks (well, more tutoring than anything) for 2 days a week. I have 2 business ladies and 4 kids (ages 9-11). That leaves 3 days to make work. It's my first week with this new schedule since the working 8 days a week stuff over the last 5 months. It feels good to imagine myself getting into the studio again. Here's a picture of Pam (graphic designer for the gallery) dressed as a Gameboy/Tetris for Halloween this year. She wore this costume to work and we installed the current show in a whirlwind. Here we are taking a break for a quick game.
My new studio (5 minutes walk from my apartment) is still under some construction, and I'm learning what its like to wait for weeks for the simplest things to be done. The landlady and contractors are makeing incredibly ridiculous excuses, and if I spoke their language, I'd let em' have it and feel more in control. I have a translator, who has been facilitating the search and discover studio hunt. Finally we found one that's 40 square meters, and has enough windows, tall ceilings, wood floors, and two long walls. It needs a major cleaning and painting, and a superficial wall that divides the space is to be removed. Everyday is another excuse, and I'm starting to think it's plain laziness. Its been three weeks since I signed my lease. Hopefully, I can get in there in the next week.
I've been promised a small show in January or February, (my choice, depending on how much time I need) at a little gallery called am space. It is run by two Shanghainese hipster/artists named Jam & Lam who can't be a day over 21. It's a sister/project space for a larger gallery called 1918 Artspace. am space is set back in a lane house in the French Concession, and has a garden outside. I can use this garden for my installation if I want, just need to figure out how.
Besides planning for my first show in Shanghai, I'm just trying to catch up on sleep, and trying to somehow save enough money to get back into a yoga studio. Chris is good, busy writing about food and dj'ing for extra cash. The yellow walls in our apartment are making me crazy, and I've been given the "go ahead" to paint them whatever color I want. I hope Chris isn't disappointed when I paint everything white! heh heh...... more later (let's see if I can keep this thing going...)
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