Mer-chan: technocuddly, cute, arty, geeky stuff from Asia and beyond » Art

Comic-Con Showdown

merchan — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:03:06 +0000

Comic-Con San Diego is here again and geek culture has never been so political. The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka Kansas travelled all the way out west to protest the event with “God Hates Nerds” signs. Seriously, haven’t the nerds been picked on enough?

Upon arrival, however, the Church group was met by a collection of counter protestors. “All glory to the Hypnotoad!” “God hate sentries!” Even Bender showed up with a sign expressing his love for Flight of the Conchords:

For those wishing to sidestep the political fracas (or for those made hungry by shouting too loud), Chef Vader was on hand with some tasty treats. It looks like he’s dishing up some Steak de JarJar:

Nyah Nyah Cultural Capital Teasers

merchan — Thu, 13 May 2010 00:57:45 +0000

Teaser 1 Art Fair Montages:

Teaser 2 Animation & Censorship:
The feature length documentary Cultural Capital: Finding Art in Dubai examines the creative process in urban spaces and the socio-economic realities that challenge the sustainability of Dubai’s boom. The reality of a creative culture, like much of Dubai, is optimistic and still under construction.

Creole Dubai

merchan — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 05:05:22 +0000

He grew up in Dubai. But he’s not from Dubai. He left Dubai. Now, he’s back in Dubai. Lantian Xie’s new installation “I’ll Be Back Someday” opens this Wednesday at The Jam Jar. Xie’s work examines the continual experience of leaving, wandering, returning, and waiting. Wandering and hunger. Waiting and eating. At the end of our path waits a warm bowl of gumbo: a diasporic food dislocated from the bayou … and brought to the desert.

ƒ(nature)=photo

merchan — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:29:45 +0000

When mathematics is integral to an art project, it risks becoming derivative. But when nature speaks for itself, its quite radical. That’s why we love the prints of Nikki Graziano, which uncover found equations in bushes and rockpiles. The world, after all, is nothing but zeros and ones. And that’s why babies should grow accustomed to digital love as soon as they need a bib. Perhaps, they too will be photographers one day. They’ll snap images of graffiti murals … and trace the natural functions of wildstyle math beneath the words. But that’s another tangent…

Swiss + UAE + artists from all over

merchan — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 06:19:13 +0000

How was Vanilla Ice when he finally performed? Too cold! As if you had to ask, but full details to come. Turning our attention to more artistic pursuits, what do you get when the Swiss Art Gate goes into a UAE hospital? The Tracking the Emirates art exhibition at the RAK Hospital. The opening is in a few days on April 7th, but we thought to give you a head’s up since Katy’s in the show, and the show is in Ras al Khaimah, “the top of the tent” of the UAE, quite beautiful but a little far out from Dubai.

Dancing in the Souk

merchan — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 08:36:00 +0000

As I lament the lack of public art in Dubai, sometimes the city surprises me and I stumble upon something even better — public performance art! While shooting Cultural Capital I caught some rather fantastic dancing, which I’ll share with you in the next few posts. For some reason, I often hear from people how joyless the region can be, and music and dancing is haram (not allowed). This video shows that public music and dancing is alive and kicking in Dubai. Near the gold souk, Chinese line dancers sashay in the shadow of the Twin Towers…only in Dubai.

Art Dubai Wrap Up

merchan — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 04:12:49 +0000

It was a buoyant, joyous time at Art Dubai, almost in defiance to the current economic situation. People were slapping each others’ backs, joking about being a shit gallery next to the toilets.

Har har nothing Duchamp hasn’t heard a zillion times already. But seriously, did anyone else find the layout strange this time? Maybe there were more decorative pieces, and the scale was smaller. The art seemed packaged and ready for buyers to hang above their sofas. Gone were the full size Chinoiserie Cadillac from last year. No more saluting monkeys sitting on pastel oil barrels either. Just commercial art beseeching “buy me!”

Since I’m hooked on phonics, say this gallery’s name: “Kamel Mennour”. Say it fast, maybe with a flat midwestern accent. At first I thought it was conceptual art, but it appears to be a legitimate gallery. I’m sure it sounds totally different in a delightful Parisian accent and I know Mer-chan means something idiotic in another language. But the sign still made me do a double take.

Digital Dubai

merchan — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:37:56 +0000

GesturoDubai: a mer-chan souvenir was performed live at yesterday’s opening of the MinD (Made in Dubai) exhibit at Ductac. The performance used the 20 most important digits (10 fingers and 10 toes) to translate memories and experiences of Dubai into repeatable gestures. The technique is known as gesturo-haptic translation and was first developed by the Factory School collective. An earlier experiment in gesturo-haptic haiku can be viewed here. You can also read the description of GestruroDubai in the MinD Catalog after the jump. Go gesture! Go Dubai!

From the MinD catalog:

GesturoDubai: A Mer-chan Souvenir offers tourists and locals alternative keepsakes of popular sights in Dubai. The GesturoDubai video teaches us to fully embody our experiences through gesturo-haptic translations. Images of well-known landmarks are juxtaposed with scripted movements that reinforce spatial memory. We translate Dubai Creeks bobbing boats and seagulls with a wave of our arms. We remember the Burj al-Arab with a puff of our chests and a pat on our bellies.

Tourism is often an endeavor of passive consumption. Sites are seen, and pictures are captured. Tourists observe a city but are not participants. We would like to propose a solution. Our gestures translate a visit to Dubai into an embodied performance. The city is fantastical and overwhelming. Why should the memory of ones visit be anything less?

Each gesture serves as a mnemonic device. They strengthen ones memory of a particular location or experience. When we string them together, the gestures unleash a string of memories: the story of explorations across Dubai. Why buy another bauble when you can dance your experiences?

Urban Camo

merchan — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:53:39 +0000

Artists Sabina Keric and Yvonne Bayer are in Urban Camouflage. They don the elements of their environment (bags at Ikea, work gloves at a hardware store, soda bottle suit at a grocery store) and camp out. The best part is seeing their feet stick out at the bottom of their disguises. There is a photo series of Urban Camoflage, but their videos (and below) really capture the works and the viewers who are treated and perplexed to this intervention. Reminds us of the bumbling assassins in Dubai with their moppy wigs and fake moustaches but with more wit and of course less blood.

Murakami in the Muck

Katy Chang — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:02:00 +0000

Check out McG’s video of Kirsten Dunst in full on sailor moon cosplay, produced by Takashi Murakami, the Superflat artist and Vuitton visionaire. I most enjoyed the wtf faces of the tokyo street kids. Takashi Murakami did great with product placement; I see his blossom flowers everywhere. But poor Kiki looked much better dancing in Bring It On.