Category: Arts News & Events

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Call for Proposals from A Library of Things at MACHANG is seeking proposals for an upcoming three-week residency at MACHANG

What is a thing? What is an object? These seemingly simple yet profoundly complex ontological questions have been explored by artists and thinkers across culture and time. In the specific setting of contemporary exhibition making (a specialty of MACHANG for almost a decade with the booming contemporary art scene in Shanghai and in China at large), what matter matters in an art exhibition? What does not? What matters before the installation of an exhibition and after its show time is over? What do we do with the materials left behind an art exhibition – the frames, pigments, dry walls, etc. – other than throwing them in the garbage and turning them into waste? How might we archive these things before and after their use value has been exploited?

CALL FOR PROPOSALS Continue reading “Call for Proposals from A Library of Things at MACHANG is seeking proposals for an upcoming three-week residency at MACHANG”

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Remembering “Beauty Salon 2” from Artist in Residence 2022

Over the three days of “Beauty Salon 2,” the artists in residence, who referred to themselves as “老妖精 (_ao_ao_ing)” created a temporary living room on DKU campus where DKU community members could participate in the happenings, in the name of art. Here’s a recap of the event filmed by Zhixian Zhang (Class of 2023) and Junyi Yu (Class of 2025), and filmed and edited by Yuzhe Zhong (Class of 2025).

Artist-in-Residence at DKU is supported by Humanities Research Center, Division of Arts and Humanities, and DKUNST Art on Campus, convened and organized by DKU’s Associate Director of Arts, Professor Zairong Xiang.

 

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Video Footage of 2021 Artist in Residence at DKU

Video by Xiaoyi Kuang, Class of 2025. 

In case you missed 2021’s Artist in Residence, here’s a short video of the bustling event at DKU.

Learn more about DKU’s first Artist in Residence at DKU. 

Artist-in-Residence at DKU is supported by Humanities Research Center, Division of Arts and Humanities, and DKUNST Art on Campus, convened and organized by DKU’s Associate Director of Arts, Professor Zairong Xiang.

 

 

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Student Report: _ao_ao_ing (老妖精) Working Wonders on DKU Campus

Reported by Yongkun (Vicky) Wu, Class of 2026

Established in 2018, _ao_ao_ing (老妖精) is a Shanghai-based performance ensemble that is continuously morphing and finding its shape. With six core members from different disciplines and backgrounds, the ensemble uses contemporary experimental theatre as their main medium, but their creation also includes participatory performances, city walks, workshops, online interactive programs, and happenings, which revolve around strong action. _ao_ao_ing makes performances that juggles the line between theatre and everyday life and create real happenings that cannot be replicated. Continue reading “Student Report: _ao_ao_ing (老妖精) Working Wonders on DKU Campus”

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A Quiet Farewell to DKU and Beauty Salon from the Artists in Residence

What’s up people? We have quietly bid farewell to DKU and Beauty Salon has finished its second installment at DKU, full of surprise and laughter. In the three days of its operation, we gathered at the living room in the name of art. Together we shared our stories, for example, choices of our favorite toilet on campus; we explored the definitions of art; we celebrated the birthday for a girl we just met; we knitted sweaters, played electric guitar, then we left the AB lobby and went to the square in front … Through this process we have understood that such a space for creativity and conviviality is not to be found elsewhere on campus; we have also seen the infinite potential this glass room now called “Beauty Salon” has brought and can bring, moving forward. We are asking: how can you continue to inhabit this artistic project and creative space after the so-called artists have left? Will “Beauty Salon” become an autonomous space continuously created and cared for by everyone, which will become an integral part of the DKU campus? Continue reading “A Quiet Farewell to DKU and Beauty Salon from the Artists in Residence”

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Student Report: The Bird Collision Prevention Project

Reported by Shuyuan Zhou

Studies have shown that bird strikes on buildings are considered to be the second leading cause of bird deaths caused by humans. Birds may perish during the day without realizing the glass is there due to its reflectivity and permeability; at night, they may be attracted to the light and thus hit the glass. At Duke Kunshan University, most of the buildings have fully transparent glass structures, and many birds die as a result of collisions with the glass.

The Bird Collision Prevention Project, an interdisciplinary art and research project aims to have a comprehensive look at the bird collision problem at DKU, starting with its landmark, the Water Pavilion. We use artistic intervention on the glass architecture itself to create a colorful and warm barrier.  In Spring 2021, we’ve “turn the cage into a bird” by hanging a mixture of twines and yarns to divide the outer area of the Water Pavilion into 5x10cm intervals, which could effectively create a friendly alert to the avian visitation. The latent fluidity of the drooping yarns echoes the near-water position of the Water Pavilion, which might make the architecture and its natural surrounding a unity not by transparency but interference.

Continue reading “Student Report: The Bird Collision Prevention Project”

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Artist in Residence at DKU

_ao_ao_ing（老妖精）is a performance ensemble that is continuously morphing and finding its shape. Founded in 2018 and based in Shanghai, it has six core members from different disciplines and backgrounds. It is a non-hierarchical group that believes in art through collaboration. _ao_ao_ing makes performances that flirt with the line between theatre and everyday life; and create real-life happenings that cannot be replicated. They have been making works in and out of theatre –  on public bus, in open streets, rural villages, sex shops, cafes, art museums, online and so on.

“妖精符aoaoing incantation” – Woodblock prints by the artists

Continue reading “Artist in Residence at DKU”

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