January 17, 2010

Bicyclinks

» Autechre – Bike (7:58) – 9.2MB mp3 @ 160kbps

Mark Jenkins via Arrested Motion

The mild weather in New York this weekend has been highly conducive to activities known as “getting out of the house,” especially with regard to my favored mode of transportation, biking. Since I returned to the NYC three weeks ago, I’ve taken to doing laps around Prospect Park for brief cardiovascular excursions, while my single-speed has taken me to various destinations around the boroughs—most recently to dim sum in Bay Ridge.

In retrospect, I regret not biking at all when I was in China. While the feasibility, practicality and efficiency of biking in Beijing were debatable—rentals were clunkers and I didn’t want to buy a bike for a two month stay—I grossly underestimated the ecstasy of cycling. At the most visceral level, I find it liberating: not only from the limits of bipedal locomotion, but also from traffic laws, which also become very fast and loose—to spite every other form of transportation—at cyclists’ own risk.

Apparently, free association also becomes very fast and loose at bloggers’ own risk:

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January 2, 2010

Li Wei… or the Highway

All photos via the artists' website

I’ve noticed that Designboom, a regular source of interesting ideas, images and other forms of inspiration that , seems predisposed to the work of Chinese contemporary artists. [Or should that be contemporary Chinese artists? Does the differing emphasis suggest that these are two entirely different categories of artist? Food for thought...]

Anyway, they’ve brought my attention to Li Wei, whose work I had previously encountered in Wallpaper’s China Issue from last summer. Designboom focuses on his ongoing “Li Wei Falls To The…” series of photos, which capture the essence of his oeuvre, though I would also add that it’s worth checking out the rest of his work on his website.

One of several photos featured in Wallpaper

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