The work of Yin Xiuzhen.

In 2009 i posted some pictures of her work. And on Saturday I got to see the real thing. Breathtaking.

Memory as a voice of opposition
Yin Xiuzhen is most famous for her installations that are made of second-hand clothes. These installations can be regarded as a reflection on the mega-makeover that cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are currently undergoing. In her work, she combines individual experience with these enormous societal changes. ‘In this rapidly changing China it seems as if, of all items, memories are the things that are vanishing most quickly. Storing memories is a kind of voice of opposition’, according to Yin. About her favourite material, Yin comments: "Clothes say a lot about a person. At a single glance they recount how big a person is, his or her age, style, gender and income. But they also narrate invisible information such as the memory of a certain period when the piece was worn, and the reason why it was kept."


Source: http://www.groningermuseum.nl/en/exhibition/yin-xiuzhen





I was so impressed by what can be achieved with the technique she uses. The structures weren't only stunning but also very sturdy. The artist chose to leave certain characteristics of the clothes visible, like collars of shirts or hand cuffs. So the material still holds the history of where it's from. She has a great eye for colour too, everything was so vibrant and pleasing to look at. And I noticed how tempted everyone was to feel the soft pieces of art. 

I am classifying Yen Xiuzhen as one of my favorite artists. 

Weapons. 

Engine.

Detail of Engine.

Detail of Unbearable Warmth. Made of scarves. 

Phil walking away from Unbearable Warmth. 

Portable City. (city in a suitcase!).  This one was made specially for the exhibition, it's Groningen. 

Portable City. Shenzhen.

Detail of Portable City. 

International Flight. 

Detail of International Flight. 

Collective Subconscious.

Detail of Collective Subconscious.

Inside Thought.

Phil touching Thought. (I only just realized this is a brain!)

Bookshelf No. 1

Detail of Bookshelf No. 1.

Groningen, the city that was hard to leave.

Some time ago I found a good deal for day tickets to go wherever we wanted in The Netherlands. Friends recommended Groningen. The museum was amazing and the city was nice. But we were not expecting to have to spend the night there... waking up the following morning in a little hotel in the center of Groningen was the result of bad (or lack of) planning. And having to buy the ticket back the following day was also quite painful for our pockets... we learned to not assume there are night trains all over The Netherlands. People here do not travel late. 

As we spent so much time there, I have lots of photos. So I'm going to divide the posts about Groningen into a few. Here is the first post. 

Groninger Museum. Spectacular building designed by Phillipe Starck, Alessandro Mendini and Coop Himmelblau. The opening of the building was in 1994. Memphis Design at its wildest! I will make a separate 

post about the museum. 

Would you trust this hairdresser? 

Someone does not like using a screw driver. 

Walking through the tunnel in the station. 

Proof that we were there on July the 14th, 2012. I'm not lying. 

Prettyprettypretty.

Humans reincarnated into birds. 

Phil shows me his sausage in the park. 

Lost bird!

Almost albino duck. 

Startled pigeons. 

Somebody pointed the fact out to me not long ago: people in The Netherlands have objects in the windowsills that are facing outside, like if they are meant to be shown to the people who look into the house. 

I blame this woman for missing the last train that would have taken us to Rotterdam. Her great voice retained us there for a while. She had sung with Stevie Wonder! 

The morning after. Still in Groningen. 

Hotel room. 

Rear hotel view. 

Hotel stairs. We saw a ghost. 

This is what Groningen is like on a Sunday morning. 

Congratulations, Kor!

Coffee in the only café open on a Sunday morning in Groningen. 

Rowing club. 

Due to its dense population, any new building that is now constructed in the center of Groningen must be at least three floors high. A local architect told us that this is one of the first buildings that is being built following this new rule. It causes controversy because of the contrast of control the city has about the citizens making changes on old buildings, even small details on the façades. Our architect acquaintance told us the architect of this building is a politician's friend...

The second floor, which is now empty, no walls, just a staircase, will be part of the garden that rises 3 meters from the back of the building. Eventually the garden will be growing all over the building. I'll have to come back in some time to check it out. But I will make sure to check when the last train departs.

Friday Music.

Lotte Nieminen.

I am very impressed by the work of Lotte Nieminen. Such beautiful and fresh illustrations! And the graphic design is also everything it needs to be.

I still have to figure out how to balance out the content of my website so that both illustration and graphic design look equally as important. Lotte manages to do that in a very witty way.

The illustration above is so perfect for enhancing my urge to go on holiday...

Club Donny.

Two of my photos were published on the Club Donny site. Wish I could see them on paper... but that's just my ego talking. Shh. Being on the site is also nice.

My new bromelia.

All this beauty for 75 cents!

Gerrit Rietveld Academy grad show.

On Saturday we got together with the Russian crew to visit the Gerrit Rietveld Academy grad show in Amsterdam. Again, I made the mistake of not taking note of the designers and artists behind the projects. But I will try and find out who they are.

Fun at the park!

Beautiful building designed by Rietveld himself. 

Timur in red light with glasses on. 

Growing plant pots! (One fo my favourite projects).

Audiovisual installation of water drops. Photo by Phil. 

Fun at the library. Photo by Phil. 

I like this shelving system.

Installation by Anna Navndrup. Photo by Phil. A more realistic photo below. 

 Timur fights his way out. It looked specially funny if you imagined it without the strings. So I made this video:

Designers posing for the calendar.

Nice textures for screen print. 

Very subtle erotic illustrations. Another one of my favourites. 

Masha explains good parenting while Timurs have fun on the swings. 

Phil likes the swing. 

Once we were out of the show, everything looked like art.

Timur was exhausted. 

Dog taking a nap. Or squinting. Or giving me a hate-look. 

Stedelijk Museum. 

One of the few public fountains I've encountered in The Netherlands. 

Caca. Kakashka. 

Look-alike. 

On the way back to Rotterdam.