:: it’s not often you see good stencil graffiti in China – see below for a some at Beijing’s 798 / Dashanzi art district. This photograph was taken by Beijing-based Mårten Strassburg. To see more of Mårten’s photography, link here. If you spot graffiti or urban art anywhere in China, please share it with us at . We’d like to document it on NeochaEDGE. For more graffiti in China on NeochaEDGE, link here.  // AjS

This post was originally published on NeochaEDGE, a site I regularly contribute to. To see more of my posts on NeochaEDGE, link here.

NeochaEDGE is a daily-curated, bilingual website and discovery engine dedicated to showcasing leading-edge creative content and emerging youth culture in China.

:: my favorite Shanghai-based graffiti artists Dezio and Popil recently returned from Beijing, but not before they left their mark on 798, the capital’s preeminent art district. If you spot graffiti or urban art anywhere in China, please share it with me at , I’d like to document it. For more from Dezio or Popil on NeochaEDGE, link here or here, respectively. // AjS

This post was originally published on NeochaEDGE, a site I regularly contribute to. To see more of my posts on NeochaEDGE, link here.

NeochaEDGE is a daily-curated, bilingual website and discovery engine dedicated to showcasing leading-edge creative content and emerging youth culture in China.

:: for more from Sulumi on NeochaEDGE, link here. /// AjS

This post was originally published on NeochaEDGE, a site I regularly contribute to. To see more of my posts on NeochaEDGE, link here.

NeochaEDGE is a daily-curated, bilingual website and discovery engine dedicated to showcasing leading-edge creative content and emerging youth culture in China.

:: see below for a fun stop-motion film titled Webcam (摄像头). The short was made by Neocha.com-user Lvmu, a third year student at the China Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, and it tells the story of an adventurous webcam trying to break free from the laptop its tethered to. Forty-five seconds of enjoyment – I promise.  // AjS

[full disclosure: fifty 5 is a partner at Neocha.com]

:: Dominic Johnson-Hill, the founder of Beijing-based designer / hipster clothing-maker Plastered T-shirts, is now creating stained glass portraits of famous Chinese revolutionary figures. Five Chinese artists have been commissioned to create the pieces, and versions of Mao Zedong, Lei Feng, and Deng Xiaoping are already done – see below. Dominic says there will be more pieces, so watch this space or check out Plastered T-shirts’ blog. /// AjS

:: check out this superb 3D animation by Neocha.com-user ZP686 titled Fatman & Moto. It was nominated for awards at the University Animation Festival and by the Beijing Film Academy’s Animation Institute. In his infinite modesty, ZP6986 told me that he’s actually in the process of redoing Fatman & Moto because he doesn’t think it’s very good. At any rate, enjoy – I’m sure you’ll agree with me when I say it’s excellent. To view the video on VIMEO, link here. Below the video I’ve also shared a slideshow of “making of” photos – it’s very interesting to see the process of the character coming alive.

ZP686 is originally from Baotou, Inner Mongolia. He graduated from the Beijing Fashion Institute’s new media and animation school in 2008. Although trained as an illustrator and animator, he is currently employed in Beijing by the American special effects company Base FX as a concept art designer. // AjS

[full disclosure: fifty 5 is a partner at Neocha.com]

:: Apple is apparently opening a second official store in Beijing, near the Qianmen area. Ben Wood, the Shanghai-based architect of Xintiandi-fame, and his Shanghai Studio design firm are behind the project. Link here for more. Uh, when can we get an official Apple store in Shanghai. Pretty please? // AjS

:: a special thanks to Danwei for helping me learn that this image is actually an Ai Weiwei photograph. I honestly had no idea. For the longest time I thought it was just a Zuo Xiao Zu Zhuo (左小祖咒) album cover, which, incidentally, hung framed on the the wall of my Beijing apartment from 2003 to 2006. Does anyone know where I can find more information about this photo?  // AjS

:: a couple years ago I had dinner with a budding Beijing-based artist / illustrator Yan Wei and her now fiance (Blake Stonebanks). As I was poking around online today, I was re-introduced to Yan Wei via some of her latest work – all of which is superb. See below for some examples.

When I first saw Yan Wei’s work, I couldn’t help but recall my Garbage Pail Kid-dominated childhood. That same exaggerated / manga-esque style and “unnecessarily grotesque and disturbing images of children” aesthetic is definitely (probably unintentionally) apparent, and I think that’s great – such images were the cornerstone of my youth! See more of Yan Wei’s work on her blog, or here for older pieces. I have also uploaded these images to a Flickr album. Bravo, well done.  // AjS

:: taken in Beijing, on West Dawang Rd. close to the Guanghua Rd. intersection. I snapped this photo without much thought, but it has turned out to be one of the best photographs I’ve ever taken. The funny thing is – I took it with my iPhone. With all due respect to an otherwise great device, the iPhone camera is usually a mediocre-at-best camera.  // AjS

:: a great 2D animation short titled 胡同的梦 (Hutong Dream) by Li Chao (李超), an undergraduate student at China’s Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Li made this video as part of a Digital Media Workshop. Through a series of interrupted dreams, the animation shows a lonely old man’s blurred perception of reality as his monotonous life hurdles toward its end – death. Bravo, well done.  // AjS

:: anyone who reads 56minus1 regularly knows I love sneakers and that I’m a Ray Lei (雪磊) fanboy. So, there was no way I wasn’t going to like this collaboration. I’m just surprised it took me so long to find these. See below for two excellent productions by Ray, an extraordinarily talented multimedia designer based in Beijing.

The first one was for Nike’s Innov8 (创意沙龙) campaign and, I think, in support of the brand’s 706 interactive / multimedia exhibit last year in Beijing’s 798 art district. The 706 exhibit showcased – in a way only Nike can shamelessly pull off – 100 of the company’s most innovative accomplishments in footwear and apparel design. Pretty cool actually.

The second one, titled Moon Landing Plan, was shown at the Nike Dunk art exhibition in Shanghai last March. See Ray’s blog for some photos from the event, link here. Ou Ning, who also showed work at the exhibition, did a post on it too, link here.

Both works are great, and further examples of brands successfully engaging China’s creative community. Bravo, well done.  // AjS

:: I recently came across a video from last year’s Blip Festival in New York City (H/T Sean Leow) featuring my favorite 8-bit musician, Beijing-based Sulumi. This clip is amazing. Enjoy.  // AjS

:: a 0300TV interview with Chinese communist party pet dissident and well-known conceptual artist / designer Ai Weiwei (艾未未). Recording in Beijing in May of 2008.  // AjS

:: I came across this video, titled Beijing£ showcasing a Chinese “marker graffiti” artist doing pieces across several large-print photographs and canvases. The video is excellent as is the artist’s work, the problem is, I can’t seem to find any information about either.

I have also posted two related photos below that I found on this nondescript, UK-based blog. The photos appear to be stills from the video, or at least showing work done by the same artist (or crew perhaps?) as the tags match: Hong Kong Walled City and Syan. Does anyone have any more information about this artist / crew or video? If so, please kindly comment below or send me an email at: 56 minus 1 at gmail dot com. Many thanks.  // AjS

[UPDATE: The artist is Hong Kong-based creative extraordinaire Chan Kwong Yan, also known as MC Yan, Chinaman, and Syan. I should have know that as Mr. Lan referenced him in a video I did with Shanghai graffiti artists last year.]