Times Art Center Berlin

18/12/2020

Holiday greetings ✨

As the year 2020 draws to a close, we look back on a challenging, experimental, yet successful year at Times Art Center Berlin. We opened the spring season with “Zhou Tao: Winter North Summer South,“ a rich and contemplative exhibition on the artist Zhou Tao’s travel to the corners of the Gobi desert, curated by Nikita Yingqian Cai. Our parallel program Conflictual Topography, organized by @Heidi Ballet, took place online during the spring lockdown, and complemented our show with interesting screenings, interviews and talks by the artists Ben Rivers, Rosa Barba, Daniela Ortiz and researcher Xiang Zairong. We were also excited to present you our new local collaboration this year, “Masks by Tailor Lê”: a production of unique face masks with @aboutaworker and the Berlin-based German-Vietnamese tailor shop.
In autumn, we were thrilled to be part of @berlinartweek with our group exhibition “Readings From Below,“ curated by Ariane Beyn (with Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Elom 20ce, Musquiqui Chihying, Gregor Kasper, Jingban Hao, Christine Sun Kim, Thomas Mader, Nguyen Trinh Thi, Yuichiro Tamura & Yau Ching). Exploring new ways in which to look at archives, the exhibition was complemented by our new online publication, showcasing the artists’ works and more insights in digital form for audiences who couldn’t come visit our space in person. We also had great fun with the virtual screening and talk series „Why an Archive“ together with Arsenal - Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V., Ariane Beyn, and three seminal independent archives (Videotage, Asia Art Archive & Video Bureau), which was online for the month of November. To keep the interesting conversations with artists going, we inaugurated a Virtual Artist Talk series with Xu Wenkai and Lei Lei, and will continue to work on new contributions via our social media channels.

Our show "Readings From Below" will be extended until the end of January, 2021, in the hopes of opening our doors again for you soon. We wish you very peaceful and healthy holidays in these special times, and hope to bring you new and exciting projects in the coming year ❤️

16/12/2020

Virtual Artist Talk With Lei Lei

How do we practice remembering? We asked the Beijing-based artist Lei Lei to talk about his work “A Bright Summer Diary” (2020), in which he dives into his memories of early family trips to Lushan mountain in Jiangxi Province. In this video, Lei captures a distant past, combining both personal memories and historical documents such as old film cassettes, or faded photographs, making them into a partly lived, partly imagined reality. Find out more about Leilei’s artistic practice in his new contribution to our Virtual Artist Talk series!

16/12/2020

Virtual Artist Talk With Lei Lei

How do we practice remembering? We asked the Beijing-based artist Lei Lei to talk about his work “A Bright Summer Diary” (2020), in which he dives into his memories of early family trips to Lushan mountain in Jiangxi Province. In this video, Lei captures a distant past, combining both personal memories and historical documents such as old film cassettes, or faded photographs, making them into a partly lived, partly imagined reality. Find out more about Leilei’s artistic practice in his new contribution to our Virtual Artist Talk series!

08/12/2020

Virtual Artist Talk With aaajiao

Have you talked with a bot, recently? We asked Berlin- and Shanghai-based artist aaajiao (Xu Wenkai), who was part of our screening program at Arsenal - Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V. in November, to talk about his current works and art practice, which are deeply intertwined with digital media. What are new perspectives and possible futures of digital art, especially in the ongoing socially distanced present? Follow aaajiao’s ‘bot,’ through fragments of his works on the streets of Berlin and Shanghai, flashy smart device screens, and virtual exhibition spaces!

08/12/2020

Virtual Artist Talk With aaajiao

Have you talked with a bot, recently? We asked Berlin- and Shanghai-based artist aaajiao (Xu Wenkai), who was part of our screening program at Arsenal - Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V. in November, to talk about his current works and art practice, which are deeply intertwined with digital media. What are new perspectives and possible futures of digital art, especially in the ongoing socially distanced present? Follow aaajiao’s ‘bot,’ through fragments of his works on the streets of Berlin and Shanghai, flashy smart device screens, and virtual exhibition spaces!

30/11/2020

ASL IRL: Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader Interviewed by Isabel Parkes - BOMB Magazine

Check out the new interview with Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader on BOMB Magazine, where the artists talk about their work "Palm Reader" in our current exhibition "Readings from Below," ASL (American Sign Language), and humor as a tool for their artistic practices.

On speaking visually.

28/11/2020

In his work bot, Xu Wenkai (aaajiao) reflects on a past and present deeply intertwined within the digital. Local and global networks, social media, gardening structures, parks, and nature itself become amalgamated into a digital hyper-representation. aaajiao is the virtual persona of Shanghai- and Berlin-based artist Xu Wenkai. Many of his works speak to new thinkings, controversies and phenomenon around the Internet, capturing the pulse of the young generation consuming cyber technology and living in social media.⠀
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His work is streaming until end of November at Arsenal's virtual cinema. Find out more on his digital world and the process of digital archiving in the talk with Chen Tong, founder of Video Bureau in our talk for Archive Außer Sich!
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Still from bot, courtesy of aaajiao and VideoBureau.

27/11/2020

Don't miss out on the last days of our program at the virtual cinema arsenale 3 at Archive außer sich, part of our public program for the exhibition "Readings from Below"! Among other important video works, Zhang Peili's "Last Words" (2003) is available for streaming: The video artist edits the final lines of the dying heroes in patriotic Chinese movies from the 1950s and 60s into a continuous loop of 15 minutes. The melodramatic speeches to grandiose soundtracks are repeated ad absurdum, until the culminating last words of the protagonists lose their meaning completely. ⠀
Zhang, born in Hangzhou in 1957, counts as the most important video artist in his generation. With his experimental, critical approach to the medium, he interweaves social and political narratives and humorous, fragmented storytelling in his digital and mixed-media works. Repetitiveness, everyday banalities and the futility of time are themes that feature in his large body of work since the 1980s.

27/11/2020

"Asia Art Archive was founded in 2000 because of a perceived lack of resources for people who were interested in doing research in modern and contemporary Asia. One of AAA's goals is to really address scholarly needs, for people conducting research and scholarship on the history of this very subject. Another important part of Asia Art Archive's mission is working with artists who think about forms of archives, and how they can permeate or be extended into a larger discourse." ⠀
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John Tain, head of research at Asia Art Archive, talks with Chuong-Dai Vo and Anthony Yung, both Researchers at AAA, about the standing that the Hong Kong-based archive has acquired over the last 20 years. With offices in Shanghai, New Delhi, and New York, AAA builds tools and communities to collectively expand knowledge through research, residency, and educational programs. The collection comprises a vast range of documentation, including the personal archives of significant artists, educators, and art professionals, as well as of key exhibitions and art spaces.⠀
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The conversation was moderated live by curator Ariane Beyn, and is on view on our events page and over at Archive außer sich! Don't miss out on the last days of our curated program over there!

11/11/2020

Why an archive? – Times Art Center Berlin

What is the motivation behind creating an artist-run archive of video art such as Video Bureau, based in Guangzhou and Beijing? ⠀
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"In comparison to photographs, which can be archived in printed matter, and reproduced and shown many times, video works would be shown in an exhibition and then disappear from view afterwards. To me, it was essential to archive these moving-image works. Also, unlike bigger institutions and museums, a small initiative like us was able to start humble, and archive continuously without a larger project in mind. Our original collection had only 25 videos, and over the next 8 years, we archived over 2.000 works. It takes a lot of effort and patience, but we were able to keep collecting steadily over the years." ⠀
- Chen Tong, writer, artist, and co-founder of Video Bureau.⠀
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The work of Video Bureau primarily consists of archiving contemporary video art in China and beyond, in order to establish a comprehensive and searchable database for researchers, curators, artists, collectors, students, and others working in and outside of the art world, and to present the collected works to an interested community via events, educational programs, and publications. ⠀
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To watch the full conversation between Ariane Beyn and Video Bureau in the context of our online program "Why an archive?", co-presented with the Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art, head over to our events page!

06/11/2020

Live Conversation with John Tain, Chuong-Dai Vo and Anthony Yung of AAA (Moderated by Ariane Beyn)

Join us tomorrow morning at 11am, Berlin time (6pm Hong Kong time) for a live-talk online with John Tain, Chuong-Dai Vo and Anthony Yung of Asia Art Archive moderated by Ariane Beyn! You can stream the conversation on our website and Youtube channel, and ask questions via the chat function.
Asia Art Archive was founded in 2000 in Hong Kong to make the multiple recent art histories of the region visible. With offices in Shanghai, New Delhi, and New York, AAA builds tools and communities to collectively expand knowledge through research, residency, and educational programs. The collection comprises a vast range of documentation, including the personal archives of significant artists, educators, and art professionals, as well as of key exhibitions and art spaces.

Works from AAA will be available for streaming on Archive Außer Sich throughout November.

Time: Saturday, November 7, 2020, 11 am Berlin / 6 pm Hong Kong This conversation is produced for “Why an archive?” “Why an archive?” is curated by Ariane Be...

03/11/2020

www.timesartcenter.org

Founded in 1986 in Hong Kong, Videotage has evolved from an artist-run collective into a network dedicated to developing the local media arts community. It has organized numerous events and programs since 1986, including exhibitions, festivals, and a residency program. It has continually distributed artworks through its networks and publications and has built up an extensive offline and online video art archive (VMAC) since 2008.

Throughout November, we are showcasing a selection of films online as part of our exhibition collaboration with Arsenal - Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V. and "Archive Außer Sich." Ariane Beyn has curated works by Ellen Pau, Anson Mak, Samson Young, and Danny Yung from Videotage's archives in the virtual cinema arsenal 3. This special program offers a broader insight into the art movements of Asia that these initiatives have been committed to achieve. Beyn's conversation with Videotage's Linda Lai and Angel Leung is available for streaming on our event page, Vimeo channel, and Archive Außer Sich's website. Stay tuned!

24/10/2020

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Hao Jingban's 8th dance move is two-fold: The male dancer’s move is called “Xi Bu Jiu Cheng” (西部酒城, Western Wine City) which, in the Chinese city Shenyang, is a typical performing bar of the Northeast of China, and stands for a type of performance program that for example included the local folk dance Errenzhuan. The Northeastern performance culture later spread to other parts of China.
The female dancer’s move is titled After Seben, named after early sound (short) film from 1928, set in a nightclub in Harlem. In the film, James Barton, a white vaudeville comic and dancer, performs numerous scenes in black-face. The film also includes Lindy Hop performances by ‘Shorty’ George Snowdon and his group who dominated the Savoy Ballroom at that time.

Video excerpts courtesy of the artist

22/10/2020

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Hao Jingban's dance move no. 4 is called Jang Woo-Hyuk. A South Korean singer, actor, dancer and composer, Jang Woo-Hyuk debuted on September 7, 1996 as a member of the K-pop boy band H.O.T. The group was extremely popular across Asia in the 1990s, with an estimated eight million fans in China alone. Their dances, as well as their hairstyles and dresses, were eagerly imitated by young people at that time.

Hao's Ten Movements is a collection of dance elements from Lindy Hop, take a look at our online publication to find out more!

Video excerpts courtesy of the artist

20/10/2020

Snake Hips

Hao Jingban's video Opus One follows a young Chinese couple studying African American swing dance culture developed between the 1930s and the 1950s, namely Lindy Hop. Born in the African-American communities in Harlem, New York City, Lindy is a fusion of many dances such as jazz, tap, breakaway, and Charleston. Hao's protagonists go to great lengths to observe and imitate the minute details of each dance move, in an effort to bridge vastly different dance cultures, ethnic communities and time periods.⠀
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In our online publication, the artist presents Ten Movements, a collection of dance elements ranging from signature moves by Lindy legends to creative dance adaptations inspired by East Asian pop culture.⠀

“Snake Hips” is a dance style or dance move popularized by the dancer Earl Tucker (1906-37) in Harlem in the 1920s. Its origin can be traced back to Southern plantations before the Civil War, where “dance was an integral part of slave plantation culture. Some of the more popular dances involved types of animal mimicry.” (Ondra Krouse Dismukes) Earl Tucker built his reputation by exhibiting his unusual style of dance at the legendary Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. In particular due to his astonishing flexibility and his rotating hips, he acquired the nickname Earl “Snakehips” Tucker. After becoming famous and popular, he regularly performed at the New York dance clubs Connie's Inn and Cotton Club.⠀

Video excerpts courtesy of the artist

13/10/2020

The three films that run simultaneously in Trinh Thi Nguyen’s installation Everyday’s the Seventies enact the story of Vietnamese refugees who, in the period from the late 1970s to the 1990s—initially prompted by the Vietnam War—left their homes to emigrate to Hong Kong.

A large number of them were of Chinese descent. In many cases they were forced to live in camps segregated from the rest of the population until 1997. The image and sound montage demonstrates the possibilities of restaging and recontextualizing images and sounds through the juxtaposition of three different categories of film material: historical footage garnered from news agencies, films made in Hong Kong in the 1980s and 1990s, and an interview recorded by the artist with the owner of a vinyl store in Hong Kong.

–Ariane Beyn, from her curatorial statement of “Readings From Below”

Film still courtesy of the artist

10/10/2020

Was will uns diese Chipstüte sagen?

Have you read the article by Birgit Rieger on our current exhibition "Readings From Below" on Tagesspiegel online yet?

"The exhibition 'Readings from Below' at the Times Art Center Berlin tells of archives that can no longer be found in static libraries; it brings together artists who work with information instead of objects. It shows how information is collected and reassembled."

Don't forget to visit us until December 12!

Das Berliner Times Art Center verbindet asiatische und europäische Positionen. Die Ausstellung „Readings from Below“ zeigt Arbeiten aus Informationen.

08/10/2020

In Memory of Huang Xiaopeng – Times Art Center Berlin

It is with profound sadness and the deepest condolences that we learned about the passing of artist Huang Xiaopeng in Berlin on October 6, 2020.

A renowned contemporary artist and art educator, Xiaopeng pushed the relationship between language and everyday images to its limits to challenge the boundaries of meanings and, ultimately, the ‘correctness’ of our daily experiences. We mourn for this tragic loss not only for Xiaopeng's family, friends, and students but also for his colleagues and the art scene, which have been enormously influenced by him over the past decades.

R.I.P. Huang Xiaopeng 🕯️🕯️🕯️

https://www.timesartcenter.org/2020/10/08/in-memory-of-huang-xiaopeng

In Memory of Huang XiaopengOct 08, 2020 It is with profound sadness and the deepest condolences that we learned about the passing of artist Huang Xiaopeng in Berlin on October 7, 2020. Huang Xiaopeng (born 1960 in Shanxi) was a renowned contemporary artist and art educator. Huang obtained his MA fro...