:: over the past few weeks we’ve been posting time-lapse videos of the live art performances from Search for Creative City (寻城记), an event that NeochaEDGE collaborated on with the Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC). Since the graffiti writers who participated in the event are pretty much the best Shanghai has to offer in terms of street-art, we pulled them all together in a single post for everyone to enjoy. Link here to see time-lapse videos of pieces by Dezio, Popil, Mr. Lan, SAIL, AEK, Lamian (拉面), Shier, and HKER.

For more Chinese graffiti on NeochaEDGE, link here.  // AjS

:: 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.

:: Popil and Dezio did some painting this past weekend in a partially demolished building near the Moganshan Rd. art district with Artof Popof (also on ), a well-known French street artist who is visiting Shanghai. Popil sent me these photos this morning, saying: “然后一涂完, 从小朋友到大朋友都接二连三地ＰＥＥ在那里. 很搞笑.” Meaning: “As soon as we were done painting, little kids and adults come along one after another to pee on the lot. It was pretty funny.” Artof Popof did the dragon, Popil did the ladies and panda, and Dezio did the lettered pieces. Enjoy.  // AjS

:: over the weekend, Popil and DEZIO churned out their latest collaboration, this time on Moganshan Rd. in Shanghai.

Unfortunately, the photos below don’t do a great job of showing true scale, but these two pieces are huge – sizing up together at about 3.5 meters tall and 25 meters long.  // AjS

:: I was just chatting with Popil on MSN and she was kind enough to send through a few of her latest graffiti pieces.

The first photo below was done in Shanghai on Moganshan Rd. The middle photo was done on Gulangyu Island (just off the coast of Xiamen city); a simple slapdash throw-up of Popil’s signature cat tag. The last photo shows Dezio doing a piece on the beach, also on Gulangyu Island.  // AjS

:: 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

:: the ridiculously talented Spanish graffiti artist Suso33 was recently in Shanghai as part of a Spanish consulate organized event called: Arte Urbano en Accion (Urban Art in Action). Yesterday I shot this photo of the display window at the Spanish consulate, showing some examples of Suso33’s well-known shadow people figures.

During his visit, Suso33 met up with local street artists DEZIO and Popil for an evening of graffiti near Dongtai Rd. See below for the results. Superb. I don’t think these buildings / walls are still standing.  // AjS

Photos via Popil (here and here) and Dezio’s Flickr photostream.

:: Neocha.com recently released the fifth edition of its webzine 放大 (or Blow Up).

Blow Up 5 is available as a free download from the Blow Up homepage or, if you prefer, here are direct PC and Mac download links.

For those unfamiliar with Blow Up, it is Neocha’s flash webzine dedicated to independent youth culture in China. It’s released every few months (or so) and has only one (strict!) rule: all of its content (pictures, music, text, animation, etc.) are 100% original creative works put together specifically for Blow Up. This is not zhuanzai’d content. Previous issues of Blow Up can be downloaded here. For an English summary of the last edition, see Adam’s previous post here. (Just click, the downloads will start automatically.)

The main theme for Blow Up 5 is “十宅记” or “10 Homes.” We visited the homes of 10 young creative people in Shanghai from a wide range of social and economic backgrounds. In doing so, we asked each of them to choose 10 objects in their homes and tell us why they are important to them. We documented the visits with pictures and interviews, and even got everyone to draw a map of their home. Good fun.

Below is an brief overview of Blow Up 5 in English, but I highly recommend downloading a copy to get the full experience with music, full-text, animation, interactive flash, and all the great photographs.

Blow Up 5 cover ::

table of content (this is fully interactive in the webzine format, please download to experience) ::

video of Neocha’s two year anniversary party ::

陈洁微 is the founder of a company that places part-time workers (a temp agency of sorts). She used to run a creative shop in Beijing ::

丁冬 is from Guangxi and runs an independent photography studio in Shanghai. He took all the pictures for this issue, he’s an incredible photographer ::

天天 is originally from Sichuan and now lives in Shanghai as a fashion designer ::

郑一 is the founder and lead designer of The Thing, a graphic design company specializing in streetwear clothing and products ::

糖果猫猫 (Popil) is a Shanghai-based “creative extraordinaire” originally from Guangdong. While Popil’s best know for her illustrations and drawings, her photography, graffiti, and music are all impressive. Check out a slideshow of her work here ::

童云 aka 大海盗 (Big Pirate), is a designer who runs the “TYAKASHA Earth Store” creative goods stores in Taikang Lu’s 田子坊 (Tianzifang) area ::

阿郜 is a poet and theatre director. She is the founder of the 测不准 (Uncertainty) independent theatre troupe ::

小季 is one half of the photography duo 鸟头 (Birdhead), which has become well recognized in the Chinese modern art world. Check out their profile on ShanghART Gallery here ::

李悠 is from Ningxia and is now a promoter for musicians in China ::

廖传扬: Sean Leow (that’s me in my apartment!) ::

credits page ::

a (subtle) call for advertisements in the next issue – hey, we gotta keep the lights on :-) ::

Again, Blow Up 5 is available as a free download from the Blow Up homepage or, if you prefer, here are direct PC and Mac download links.

Special thanks to 丁冬 for his superb photography work, Jamhippy for the cover art, and 诺琪 (Noki) for soundtrack through this edition of Blow Up.  // SL

[full disclosure: Sean Leow is the CEO of Neocha.com]

:: mr. lan (张岚) has long been my favorite graffiti writer in Shanghai, perhaps China. See below for a sampling of works he painted over the past year or so. Also, click here for a Danwei TV video featuring Mr. Lan. The video also features two other well-known Shanghai writers, Popil and HKR. “The City Needs You.” Bravo, well done.  // AjS

:: a slideshow collection of Popil’s sketches, drawings, paintings, designs, photography, graffiti pieces, and other creative works from Neocha.  // AjS

[full disclosure: 56minus1 is a partner at Neocha.com]

:: Danwei TV presents The Shanghai Beat “Music Shorts” with a 3-song performance by Hard Queen, an up-and-coming basement / indie pop band from Shanghai. This video is also on Tudou for faster loading in China, and was originally posted on Danwei.

This video was shot in mid-July 2008 at ENO during an exhibition showcasing Popil’s graffiti / illustration work.

The Shanghai Beat “Music Shorts” is produced by 56minus1 (aka Adam Schokora / 小石).

Intro music by Sulumi, a song called “De.”

// AjS

:: Neocha has recently published a 4th installment of its webzine “Blow up” (放大), aptly titled, “Blow Up 04″ (放大04). Link here for a PC or Mac download. This edition is loosely focused on the theme of “sport” with content including:

• an article titled ”Is China Ready for Originality?” featuring Xiao Long Hua, an illustrator and member of Cult Youth, the leading underground comic book group in China
• Neocha user profile on: Popil, creative extraordinaire
• an article on BMX in China
• an article on Liang You (), an old Shanghainese B&W magazine that pioneered athletics photography
• a video called “Dare!” documenting China’s 1984 Olympic team
• a piece on the classic Chinese sneaker brand Warrior ()
• and an overview of “Tomorrow’s Afternoon Tea,” the latest Neocha.com netlabel release

[full disclosure: 56minus1 is a partner at Neocha.com]

// AjS