:: Shanghai is the next stop for A Nice Set, a traveling exhibition of customized slipmats designed by leading artists from around the world. Presented by NeochaEDGE and Jellymon, A Nice Set | Shanghai will feature slipmat designs from international artists as well as the first showing of original slipmat designs from emerging Chinese artists. Further integrating the music + art theme, a set of Aerial7 headphones will receive a custom-design treatment by Chinese artists and displayed at the exhibition.

A Nice Set | Shanghai exhibition will open at 7:30 PM on September 12th at SOURCE’s gallery space, and run until September 28. Original slipmats, reproductions, IdN’s commemorative book, and custom-designed Aerial7 headphones will all be available for sale throughout the exhibition. // AjS

Exhibition Opening Party :: Sept 12, 2009, 19:30

Exhibition Dates :: Sept 12 – Sept 28, 2009

Location :: SOURCE (158 Xinle Road, Near Donghu Road)

Participating Artists ::

China

Raylei, B6, Tyakasha, Yan Wei, Nini Sum, Jellymon, Kidplastik, Chairman, Shinjil, 96k, Rubberpixy

International

Asif Mian, Ben Loiz & Carolina Chaves, Bob Kronbauer, Build, Carlos Rodriguez, David Ellis, Genevieve Gauckler, Gerry Villareal, Harmen Liemburg, Hanna Werning, Hort, Ian Wright, Ian “Swifty” Swift, Jeff Staple, Jeff Zimmermann, Jenni Kim, Jeremy Hollister, Jeremyville, Maki Kawakita, Marc Atlan, Ray Smith, Republic of Regina, Stephen Bliss, Judy Wellfare, Kai and Sunny, Kenn Sakurai, Kustaa Saksi, Luca Ionesco, Maceo Villareal, Stephan “Maze” Georges, Timothy Saccenti, Universal Everything, Value and Service, Yuko Shimizu and many more

What is a slipmat?

A slipmat is a circular piece of felt material that DJs use on turntables to manipulate a record.

The Concept ::

Just as DJs sample the work of many musicians into the new mixes, visual artists tap into their own cultural surroundings, sampling the influences they have accumulated and integrate them into their work. Both the visual artist and the DJ can be seen as “selectors” who draw inspiration from their respective environments, as well as its trends and fads, with the finished product of a painting or a mix being their interpretation of the world around them.

First conceptualised by Jeremy Hollister of New York creative studio Plus et Plus and Jeff Staple of Staple Designs and The Reed Space, A Nice Set invites leading artists to customize a pair of blank slipmats with dimensions of the canvas as their only constraints.

The Artists ::

The selection of participating artists for A Nice Set is not based on any universal visual aesthetic, but rather on talent, uniqueness and a passion for music – in both the work and the lives of the chosen artists.

Since its debut in Hong Kong, A Nice Set has been on tour for the past three years, travelling from Tokyo to Spain, Paris, Australia and Singapore hitting Shanghai this September. In each city, a selection of local talent is chosen to be included in each exhibition alongside the original collective. The works of the local artists then travel to the next city of the tour, ever expanding global pool of customized designs.

Organizers ::

NeochaEDGE

NeochaEDGE is a full-service idea and execution house passionate about helping clients understand, engage, and co-create with Chinese creative communities, trendsetters, and youth culture opinion leaders.

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

NeochaEDGE is a product of Neocha.com, an online community and social network that empowers Chinese creatives to promote their work, collaborate with other creatives, and engage with fans.

Jellymon

Jellymon / JMGS is a multi-discipline design studio that creates Artwork, Toys, Fashion, Lifestyle products, Branding, Creative Direction. Jellymon was set up by Lin Lin and Sam Jacobs. The pair met at Chelsea School of Art in 2002 and have been working together ever since. Jellymon is about art and products with a fun and thoughtful twist. JMGS works closely with brands and advertising agencies. The projects we work on are very wide ranging but most focus mainly on the Youth Market.

Sponsors ::

Aerial7

Aerial7 was founded in 2008 based on the idea that great sound can be combined with awesome, eye-catching design. Our headphones are influenced by our devotion to art, streetwear, action sports, and DJ culture. They deliver unsurpassed audio quality in models that are as much a statement of individualism as they are a practical necessity.

Vedett

Vedett is a premium Belgian beer brand with a somewhat different attitude; taking itself not too serious (except when it comes to quality, then we’re damn serious!), a bit quirky, modest, not telling you what to do or how to behave.

:: I had the privileged of being on the advisory committee and event management team for yesterday’s TedxShanghai conference (China’s 1st!) together with a great group of people including , , , , , Sherry Wan, Mark Evans, , , and Pat Mai. A special thanks to all the sponsors and those that volunteered their time to make the event happen. I can’t wait until the next one.

There will be some updates to the TEDxShanghai official website, but for now, see below for the speakers / performers that presented. It was a stellar line up. I’ll be sure to link everyone to the video content when it’s live online. Watch this space. Link here for the below images in a more readable / high resolution format. Link for all the TEDxShanghai Twitter chatter.  // AjS

:: there is a great exhibition opening in Shanghai at Art Labor this weekend, running through July 10. Link here for more details. See below for some sample pieces from the artist, 26 year old Xian-based Ying Yefu (also know as Kodyo and Ren Qianyi).  // AjS

:: live-action design knees-up Cut&Paste makes its Shanghai debut this Saturday, May 23.

The Cut&Paste Digital Design Tournament is a globally touring competition that pits designers head to head, in a series of lightning-fast rounds, to prove their mettle. 2009 sees 16 cities on its roster – Shanghai is number 14 – plus a global championship event in June. 2D, 3D and Motion Design are represented, and contestants have a fixed amount of time – 15 minutes for 2D, 20 minutes for 3D, eight hours for Motion – to execute a creative brief on the spot. Their work is projected, live and in real time, on massive screens so the audience can ooh over every creative decision, ahh over every technical move, and get a glimpse into the ever-nebulous Creative Process.

Check the video from the last tour:

Pretty neat, eh?

Shanghai’s 16 contestants have been handpicked from tons of entries collected earlier in the year (they’re listed on the Shanghai event page, under their respective categories). Tournament judges include Chinese contemporary artists Ding Yi and Jellymon creative director Sam Jacobs for the 2D category, Asentio Design founder David Williams and adFunture founder Eddi Yip for 3D; and W+K’s Francis Lam and AKQA’s Johan Vakidis for Motion.
The afterparty – co-hosted by (they who brought Daedelus, People Under the Stairs and, most recently, Modular Records) – sees LA’s in Shanghai, rather fitting given Cut&Paste’s 2009 tour started in LA three months ago. (It’s been moving across North America, Europe and Asia ever since.)

Three audience design contests will allow folks not content just watching to get a taste of what those onstage are up against. Winners of these contests – selected from all global entries – get to go to global championships in June, along with the official winners from each city.
Whether you’d like to see the creative process somewhat demystified, or are just hankering for a good show, head down the Shanghai Sculpture Space Saturday evening.

Cut&Paste Digital Design Tournament 2009: Shanghai. Saturday, May 23. Doors 6:30pm / Show 7:00pm. Shanghai Sculpture Space (570 Huaihai Xi Lu, near Kaixuan Lu). RMB 100 presale (RMB 80 for students) through Ticketmaster / RMB 120 at the door (tickets include entry to the at Yuyintang with Free the Robots). Full details: www.cutandpaste.com or . Facebook event .  // PL

[Panthea Lee is a guest contributor on 56minus1. Full disclosure: Panthea is the producer of Cut&Paste Shanghai, and Neocha.com – of which Adam Schokora (56minus1) is a partner – is a sponsor of the event.]

:: art+shanghai has an exhibition now through June 21st titled Fold 1: Unifying Art + Design that features a 56minus1 favorite, Nial O’Connor (who I’ve posted about before here, here, and here). Nial recently told me that one of the images he created for the exhibition “is of Little Red Riding Hood playing ping pong against an elephant-riding mythical Buddhist character – it was a lot of fun to make.”

According to art+shanghai, the Fold 1 group exhibition explores the intricacies of art and design as a partnership; it is an equal cooperation on every level from the initial sharing of ideas to negotiating changes and making decisions about possible outcomes. Don’t miss it.  // AjS

:: my good friend Helen Lee (of insh) will be presenting her fall / winter collection, MIGRATE, this evening as part of Shanghai’s 2009 Fashion Week. Link here for more details: English / Chinese.  Doors open at 7:30. Come hang out with the cool kids. It will be great. // AjS

[photo by Yocky Zhang, photoshoping by 55, clothing design by Helen Lee]

:: see below for some snaps taken at this weekend’s BLENDER: Digital Culture Festival in Shanghai; Popil and DEZIO doing some freestyle mark-ups. For the full Flickr set link here. DEZIO was kind enough to gift me a set of poker cards featuring his work. If interested, link here for a short documentary I produced about graffiti in Shanghai featuring Popil.  // AjS

:: Alexandra Diez De Rivera will be at ART LABOR for a solo exposition of new photographs titled CAMALEON: a series of provocative, engaging images featuring some of Shanghai’s most notoriously visible scenesters disguised in a lot of paint. The show runs from April 18 to May 9. There will be an opening party this Saturday at ART LABOR from 5 – 10 P.M. (36 Yongjia Rd., close to Shanxi Nan Rd. map here). Check out the making of CAMALEON .  // AjS

:: “the annual big celebration party for friendship and the economic crisis”

// AjS

ART LABOR Gallery invites you to a new installation of chandelier, paravent (wood screen), carpet and wallpaper by artist Chen Hangfeng, along with other works on paper.

Chen Hangfeng arranges the logos of the world’s brands into traditional Chinese patterns with a modern twist. As an ancient woodcarver might have used the bird he observed in his daily life, Chen Hangfeng takes the symbols in our daily view and incorporates them into his art, creating works from normally mundane corporate logos of our times. Notable art critic Karen Smith has recently commissioned works by him.

Working along these lines of appropriation and reapplication, Chen Hangfeng has over some months collected various objects out of garbage collection and redistribution centers around Shanghai.  Out of these he has built a “Chandelier” from discards, discovering much about the system of garbage reclamation and trade in a city which “produces” 20,000 tons of refuse a day. Juxtaposing his art craft with the disposable nature of most mass production or even luxury goods – in a country renowned for being the world’s factory – is not meant as ironic commentary, but intends to illustrate the complex layers behind the processes in our daily lives and the layers of application of value to an object at various phases of use.