Danny Lyon

American photographer Danny Lyon -- "Defeated Demo Driver"

My arrival in Beijing (please ignore the profanities...)

I'm back in Boston. But here is a video clip of my arrival at the Beijing Airport. Quan decided to be a creep & lurked behind a corner. She scared me mostly b/c I thought she was a local Chinese bum. And apparently she missed her cue b/c she thought the same thing about me. (Dad- I'm sorry, again, for the profanities...)

Some pics from Hedi Slimane's diary

Hah, so this last one just reminds me of what I'd wear on a daily basis in China. (Xi'an's pretty dusty/dirty -- it was kinda just more sensible than it was punk.)

I'm in love with this video (James Jarvis x Nike running)

Onwards from AKQA on Vimeo.

PUMA City - Boston

(Even though I've chugged the swoosh kool-aid...) I think this is a pretty cool retail space. "PUMA City" is essentially a movable city made up of 24 shipping containers & holds a retail store, bar, and event space. I'll definitely have to check it out since it's right here in Boston (near the ICA). It'll be up for another 3 weeks in Boston & apparently will host some DJ battles before it moves on to South Africa.

The featured event is the Volvo Ocean Race -- a 9 month yacht race around the world. An article quotes chief mktg. officer Anthony Bertone claiming, "A lot of time people see sailing as an elite sport, but we're trying to give folks an opportunity to see that's not the case." Mmmwhat?!? I'm going to have to completely disagree w/ him -- I find sailing to be nothing but an elite sport. Ok, I'll admit: I went to prep school, and I even spent a season with the Milton Academy sailing team (!!! yeah, I know...clearly that didn't work out...)

Anyway, the project makes sense in terms of Boston sports (for a US city, sailing is somewhat popular in Boston, and there are a lot of universities in the area that have sailing teams). But I have to wonder...DJ battles? Mixing hip-hop culture w/ a rich white kids' sport? Really? I'm not saying it can't be done, but bringing sailing to the streets seems like a bit of a far-reach to me. I guess with a large enough marketing budget, perhaps dichotomous cultures can mingle. Then again, I have to remember that cultures are more fluid today, thanks to the digital world. But hey, I'll have to go see for myself!

Angkor Wat (Cambodia)

2 weeks ago Cary & I visited Cambodia

Playing w/ Ice

More photos from Haerbin Ice Festival (Jan '09)The sketchball on the right licking the block of ice is my dear friend Caralyn H. Quan.

Please cherish your future & reputation...

Wal-Mart in China

Me on the Great Wall

Most of the time I'm the one taking photos of my friends, but I managed to raid Cary's pics...

Some work

Some work - still in progress, though just about done. Keith Richards (~35" x 46")

Colors are a bit off in the photos. But the main gist. Materials: acrylic & oil bar

They think i'm Korean

(...at the risk of sounding incredibly obnoxious...) Normally I don't dress too snazzy here in Xi'an because it's so dusty/dirty. But last week, for no reason in particular, I decided to look good. (and by "look good", I mean matching/colors that hookup from toe-to-head, good pair of kicks, maybe sporting a blazer over a T, and most likely wearing turquoise and/or purple. Ooooo, uhhh did I really just admit all this?...yeahhh, hmm...).

Anyway, several locals asked me if I was Korean, which is the first time that's ever happened to me in my life. I think I'll take it as a compliment -- China still has beef w/ Japan, so China tends to look to Korea for cultural influence (fashion, music, etc.). Basically Koreans are considered really cool. And by association, that would make me....

Stages -- pt. 2

Earlier I posted something about the "Stages" initiative (i.e. Shepard Fairey's work). Here are some of the kicks. (Lance Armstrong/Nike/Livestrong Foundation). Personally, I'm liking the Air Max 90's -- above the grey sneaks in the middle, below the high-tops w/ yellow laces. One of the reasons I like wearing high-tops so much is b/c they remind me of wearing hockey skates.Lance's bike - also part of the "Stages" art campaign. Lance got this bike custom designed by KAWS (a well-known designer/artist in the streetworld).

Thailand/Cambodia

Tomorrow I'm headed off to Thailand & Cambodia for 2 weeks -- I'll be meeting up w/ my friend Cary. Not sure how much I'll be posting between now & April 17th.

Tentative plan:
- Bangkok (1 day)
- Siem Reap/Phnom Penh (~5 days)
- Bangkok/beach (1 day)
- Songkrat festival in Chiang Mai (5 days)

What's hot in China: chicks who look like anime characters

I was hanging out w/ Lei Heng & some of her friends, and they asked me if I thought the actress in 'Slumdog Millionaire' (Freida Pinto) is pretty. And obviously my answer was YES, because that girl is gorgeous. But here's the thing: she's just blah according to Chinese culture's standard of beauty. They couldnt understand why Westerners think she's pretty. And I couldn't understand why they thought Freida's face looks like it's been beat w/ a shovel.

So I asked them what kind of features they considered attractive for girls. Answer: big eyes, small nose, small mouth. Kindof sounds like China digs girls who look like anime characters. (see below. yeah, i don't really know what's up w/ the fishnet stockings, but it's one of the first images that popped up when i googled 'anime character chinese girl'.)

Remme watch Youtube!

So, Youtube.com hasn't been working here in China. I thought it was just my computer. But turns out, China's blocking Youtube -- I think related to that "fake" video of Tibetans being tortured.

I just wanted to watch some mindless music videos & see Kanye git his funk on.

...

Dear Dad,

I have no updates for you because Katie went off to visit the USA for 2 weeks and took the only source of decent internet access with her.

This post will probably take 10 minutes to load. Thank you, China.

Love Always,
Erspeh (how the Chinese pronounce my name)

Forbidden City

Harbin - Jan '08

Note: despite the -10degree windchill, that facemask is actually for protection against SARS.

Trains

Lots of overnight trains. Similar to the ones in India -- but a little nicer. 

Quan thinks it's weird that I sleep with my sneakers on. Normally everyone puts their shoes in the aisle. But I tie my kicks extra tight & double-knot them. 

Muslim Quarter - Jan '08

At the Muslim Quarter in Xi'an, where ~50,000 Hui ("hway") Islamic minority live. Video is taken at the mosque during prayer.

 

An obnoxious video of me shrieking

My friends & I are known as "the Children's Table". And this would be reason #293048234...

(though we like to consider it a good thing to have an imagination comparable to a child...)

Oh, Bernie...

7-ft-wide, watercolor portrait of Bernie Madoff by Chinese artist Yan Pei-Ming. Asking price: $100,000. (But so far has failed to find a buyer). A fittingly creepy portrait.

Stalin, is that you?!? (Harbin)

Communist China at its finest.

Yeah, it was that depressing... 

And that cold.

So cold that we had to run into Wal-Mart to purchase long-underwear. 

Lots of ice. After I took this photo I ran back inside a random mall b/c I couldn't feel my face. 

Hangin' w/ security guards @ the Great Wall

Quan & I befriending a security guard at the Great Wall. We quickly broke out in a dance party (security guard provided the Michael Jackson beats), & forced this poor man to wear some tacky-chic Kanye shuttershades. I think he enjoyed it. 

My favorite part is when he goes, "You guys are American? Really? Nooo, but you guys just are so COOOOL & have yo own sty-ohh! You guys ROCK!" 

YaoGun QingNian ("Yow-gwen Ching-nyan") = Rock Youth Generation. mmhmm.

H.H.D.L. -- Steppin' on Hu's toes.

As many of you have probably read by now, His Holiness the Dalai Lama recently criticized China (or the CCP) for turning Tibet into a "hell on earth". OOOOOhhh. Harsh. Well, harsh by what's appropriate to say against the Chinese government (which is, oh wait, you can't really do that now can you...). Perhaps the Dalai Lama makes a legitimate claim & he's only voicing what 6 million Tibetans already believe, but I'm a little nervous to see what the CCP response might be...

It's now been 50 years since a failed Tibetan revolt against the Chinese gov (after which DL had to seek refuge in India). The Dalai Lama wants autonomy -- which is a compromise between the CCP's suffocating grip vs. the full independence that many Tibetan radicals are calling for. I'm just hoping the dude stays healthy, b/c who's gonna mediate when he's gone? A key thing he's able to do is keeping the radicals under control. But if he's gone & the young radicals get a bit too roudy, the CCP could easily give 'em a good b*tchslap. Dem Tibetans gotta check 'demselves beefoh dey wreck 'demselves. (...riiiight.)

Anyway, it's easy to forget about this issue in the midst of all the fun we're having in the stock market & over in the Middle East. I havent really stayed as up to date on this issue as much as I'd like, but damnnn HHDL just gave Hu a whole lotta lip...

Jordan Ad (sweet video - check it out)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C2nkm_PSyQ

Awesome flight. My boss from this past summer is the ad manager for Jordan -- he does some really phenomenal work! On "Lead the Charge", he got to collaborate w/ Wally Pfister (filmed Dark Knight) -- apparently Pfister used some tricks he learned from that movie.

This past summer I got to see the concepts for this ad -- pretty cool to finally see the end product!

(you can watch past Jordan flights here -- definitely worth watching! http://www.youtube.com/user/Jumpman23Productions )

Hong Kong: some pics

Typical street in HK. (Causeway Bay)

Hipsters & schoolchildren -- funny combo to see out on the streets. Makes sense, but didn't expect it.

I liked the road-writing -- both in English & Chinese (note: Hong Kong & Taiwan still use traditional characters, which are basically more elaborate/more strokes; mainland China uses simplified.)

Meet the Waterman

There are a bunch of other dudes just like him riding around on their water bycicles & sporting totally rad green jumpsuits (or blue -- depending on the neighborhood). It's all a pre-paid thing -- there's a stack of tickets, & we give him a ticket everytime we need the water changed. They're pretty fast - you call them & you're all "AHHHGHH I'M THIRRSTYYYY" & then they immediately barge in w/ their awesome get-ups.

"STAGES" -- Just another reason why I dig Nike (Livestrong x art world)

(L to R: Lance Armstrong, Mark Parker, Shepard Fairey*)

New art exhibition launching this summer in Paris. The artwork's all chosen Lance (who'll be racing again this summer), and the project was developed by Nike. The project illustrates "Livestrong's expanded global outreach in the fight against cancer & as a means of engaging the creative communicty in the shared struggle."

Artists in the show include: ED RUSCHA, RAYMOND PETTIBON, KAWS, ROSSON CROW, JR, TARYN SIMON, CHRISTOPHER WOOL, JULES DE BALINCOURT, SHEPARD FAIREY, JOSE PARLA, AARON YOUNG, MARC NEWSON, KENNY SCHARF, OS GEMEOS, YOSHITOMO NARA, ERIC WHITE, and DZINE. Lance will also ride some special "art bikes" -- collabs between Trek & some "modern art and design masters" MARC NEWSON, TAKASHI MURAKAMI, and DAMIEN HIRST.

(Fairey's the street-artist who painted that famous Hope pop-art portrait of Obama)

check out more: http://www.supertouchart.com/

How to diss an Asian

Some bitter old man called me a "turtle" the other day. Annnnd self-esteem continues to get pummelled by my own race. (I guess my abnormally-large-for-an-asian-female's ass was blocking part of the alleyway in a market of tacky breakable crap.)

Turtle = you're slow. It's considered offensive. Kind of like how we call people "b*tches". And in Asia, it's especially bad to use animal names to refer to humans.

Obviously if someone were to call me a turtle in America, I'd break out my nunchuks & start singing the theme song for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. cowabunga. duuude.

Wu gui ("woo gway") = turtle.
Ni shi wu gui, ma? ("nee shur woo gway, mah?") = Are you a turtle?