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    GOURD FACTS

    丝瓜集团 (Sponge Gourd Collective) is a loofah for the future, a squad of green goons, a slimy surprise. We investigate urban transformation to explore Chinese futurities. With backgrounds in visual art, photography, anthropology, community organizing, film, and literature, we develop multimedia projects that broaden popular conceptions of China, to leave more room for the blurry spaces in between.

    Our projects deconstruct unstable meanings of Chineseness and speak to Chinese youth and members of the global Chinese diaspora. Self-searching is a seed that sprouted this collective; as rapid development calls for a fluid, flexible future, our conceptions of identity too must remain open to flux.

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    PEOPLE'S SQUARE - 人民广场

    People's Square is a zine series created for all the wandering tumbleweeds and curious cats who have found themselves lost in the dusty rubble of Chinese demolition and were thirsty to know more. Comprising photography, ethnography and art, it is a snapshot of the transient moments that make up China's rapacious urban development and a dive into the dumps of land expropriation.

    Issue No.1 is about Changdian Village/长店村, an urban village on the edges of Beijing where residents are resisting demolition. Issue No. 2 is about Guijie/簋街, Beijing's famous food street and its renovation in 2017. Issue No. 3 is about the hutongs around Gulou/鼓楼胡同, where business have recently had to face widespread demolitions and renovations that have changed the face of the neighborhood.

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    Find your local gourd ~

    Buy a zine!

    [beijing]

    BEESTING/摘刺

    WUJIN CAFE/五金

    YUE SPACE/乐空间

    fRUITYSPACE

    [new york]

    WING ON WO

    [hong kong]

    DISPLAY DISTRIBUTE

     

    Recently featured in:

     Loreli China 

     BAU HAUS Semi-Annual V: Environmental Projection Agency 

     Beijing Art Book Fair 2018

    Bon Art Book Fair

    Bangkok Art Book Fair

    New England Art Book Fair

    Boston Art Book Fair

    Experience Chinatown + Boston Hassle Zine Markets

     

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    NEW! Issue 3: Gulou Hutongs 鼓楼胡同

    Hutong tragedy strikes again. All the fun-loving folks in Beijing feel the heat as Fangjia Hutong's outdoor seating is replaced with piles of bricks. Originally zoned as residential land, first-floor commercial spaces were forced to shut down last spring. Doors and windows were bricked up in hutongs all across Dongcheng. In People's Square No. 3, we break down the hutong revitalization with Hemu, a seasoned researcher of Beijing's hutongs, and AhG, a local Gulou 瓷. Their insights help us explore: What does authentic hutong culture and community mean? What is worth preserving and whom are various forms of urban revitalization serving?

     

    Thank you Hemu and AhG!

  • The Harmonious Commute 跳出北京看北京

    The Harmonious Commute 跳出北京看北京 (currently in progress) is a narrative project documenting Beijing’s high-speed rail (HSR) trajectories and their emerging cultural impacts. The HSR will integrate Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei into a single entity called Jing-Jin-Ji. Our project explores the resulting edges and in-betweens, through documentation and interviews of residents in locations where HSR stations have been recently built or are planned for the future. So far, this includes Gaoyi, Handan, Huanghua, Wenmiao, and Xiongan. We then synthesize our materials into narratives that explore the megacity on a human scale.

     

    A Day in the Outer Ring was the first physical exhibition installment of the project. It was held at i:project space's ii space in Beijing, from August 11-September 2, 2018.

     

    This project is supported by Beijing22 and the China Residencies Slow Train Residency!

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    A Day in the Outer Ring (Installation View)

    From left to right: Nothing Ever Happens Here《这里很无聊》, Unfilial Garden《不孝花园》,Lunar Palpitations《月食心慌 》

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    Nothing Ever Happens Here《这里很无聊》

    Still from Single-channel video. 3:19. 2018

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    Unfilial Garden《不孝花园》

    Mural of collaged fragments from propaganda murals found in Xitianchi Village, Handan, Hebei. Approx 2*2.7m. 2018.

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    Lunar Palpitations《月食心慌 》

    Still from Single-channel video. 2:14. 2018.

  • When Will Today be Reopened? 《指针》

    From July 26-August 5, 2018, we held a window exhibit at i:project space's ii space called When Will Today be Reopened?, exploring physical interactions with memory across disparate and connected 华裔 experiences.

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    View of When Will Today be Reopened? from hutong

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    Still from When Will Today be Reopened? Single-channel video. 3:48. 2018.

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    Still from When Will Today be Reopened? Single-channel video. 3:48. 2018.

  • It's the healthiest way to get updates on our next zine and upcoming projects!

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