Well, I got to hear the student proposals this morning. Ling Min and the Dean have arranged for the students to create temporary public artworks for the Water Town area of the city.
The students are in their fourth and final year, so they have strong ideas. They are working in teams and the proposals include: a floating lawn, a bridge covered in locally sourced fabrics, a musical instrument made out of ceramic pots filled with water and an ice sculpture.
I agreed to be a helping hand to the students during the making phase, but Ling Min also asked me to participate in this outdoor exhibition… so she’s giving me a boat (see picture)! It is 6 metres long – a hefty thing – and I have no idea what I will do with it. I have this week to come up with plans and materials. Looks like tomorrow’s trip to Shanghai library (one of the biggest in the world) won’t just be for my own research purposes: it’ll be for sitting down and starting to think this project out. I like a challenge… and this is certainly a challenge.
After a noodley lunch, Veronica, a fourth year art history student, showed me the highlights of Shanghai Museum. It’s right on People’s Square and, unlike most places here, it’s got a fair bit of light and space around it. Inside however, it is full to bursting with bronzes, jade, porcelain, furniture (I especially liked the “writing room” set up) and paintings. Coincidentally, we found an ancient instrument very much along the lines of one of the students’ proposals this morning and the day ended with a suitably watery theme –a walk along the Bund (glitzy skyscrapers facing down colonial architecture) at sunset.
