这下半月，家作坊将转给我们的神秘建筑师朋友daucle。他最近得了2009年度MAD旅行基金，现在穿试家作坊的第一次访问艺术家计划。“文化交流”是我们这年的无目题目。daucle将用“文化交流”来做一个有关的小项目，月底展示。小经厂胡同的邻居们欢迎他～ 高哥说，“他需要什么让他随便找我！”我们期待daucle来一起玩！

For the next half-month, HomeShop is given over to our mysterious architect friend daucle, recent recipient of a traveling fellowship from MAD architects of Beijing and now our very own first attempt at an in-residence programme. “Cultural exchange” is the meaningless banter to fill our heads these weeks, and Daucle will present a mini-project on the subject at the end of his residency. Our neighbours at Xiaojingchang Hutong welcome him, and brother Gao next door says, “Whatever he needs, tell him to come to me for help!”

开始准备…请继续关注这个博客。有兴趣参与？lianxi (圈a) homeshop (点) org (点) cn

Tonight and tomorrow (15-16 October) only, 家作坊 HomeShop slips into Berlin at Program initiative for art + architecture collaborations for a live rhizomatic radio programme on chinese video, live audiovisuals and performance art. It’s called “There’s no I in team“, and if you’re passing by 小经厂胡同 Xiaojingchang Hutong this weekend, come and play copycat with us!

[all photos above by 高灵 GAO ling] more about the welcoming home of 1,500 bricks can be found at instant hutong. Beer and curious passersby make for a less than “silent insertion into the hutongs”, but more than one week later our mini-veranda is still standing, waiting to be taken away or re-used, maybe a new fort for the kids or just another kind of looking in and out…

After more than a week stuck in the depot, after the ship around the world, after being carefully put together, on display in Terni and Birmingham, repacked and reorganised, we were forced to come back.

[photo by 高灵 Gao Ling]

and what could one do but stack everything up again, rebuild and redesign, finding a place, holding broken pieces with two hands.

[photo by fotini lazaridou-hatzigoga]

We make so-so walls, says a migrant worker who observes from the side. He’s been up since 6:30 am and now it’s overtime, but you all are doing the same thing now and it’s fun and it’s art. 有意思.

it’s not a mockery but the squeeze of bureaucracy, a reaction and a kind of productivity. Half a wall, a peephole, a veranda, place to aim, balcony, blockade.

Welcome home, bricks.

(The return of 1,500 China-made bricks was organised 29 August 2009 by Marcella and Stefano from Instant Hutong, Elaine and Fotini at HomeShop. Thank you to everyone in the assembly line…)

another attempt at organising, an examination of context as content.

an exercise in cultural exchange means throwing things together, participating in a bit of 废话…

马修 matthieu’s interactive soft porn BBQ grill, entitled “Emmanuelle II”

Latin-America comes to Xiaojingchang by way of shrunken breasts, or nut sacs.

好乱! 老二 says that sportsbabel organised it better last year…

this may be partly due to hutong 拆迁 amidst us, or 警察 intervention

but we practice anyway,《实用英语》，手语，togetherness…

what could it mean to be together? flashes of light…

and then inclement weather forces us into intimate, experimental spaces. an exercise in human reaction, in synchronisation, begins.

wet indoors and outdoors

stereotyping forgotten-in-process, resuscitated in small quarters, an after party

and we dance…

[照片 photos by 陈延娜 Laura Chen、戴璞 Dai Pu、鸽子 Gezi、何颖雅 Elaine W. Ho & 曲一箴 Qu Yizhen]

nuri姐姐跟我们说在印度，呆着气球是最小最方便的东西，最愉快。
big sister nuri talks about balloons in india, the smallest thing to have at hand, the greatest joy.

laura妹妹跟小经厂胡同的孩子们一起玩。
little sister laura plays with the children of Xiaojingchang Hutong.

在北京的夏天，下雪。
in beijing, it snows in summer.

家作坊 HomeShop
小经厂胡同 鼓楼大街路北  |  Xiaojingchang Hutong, off Guloudongdajie
从晚上8:00开始  |  from 20.00

文化交流是为人民服务的一种。我们或主动地索取，或消极地接受；或大胆地叫声：“拿来！”，或谦卑地低语：“给您。”

家作坊系列第二: “文化交流”
文化交流意味着把我们本来可以清晰地想像出来的交流过程蒙上一层亲切的阴影。它是一场猝发乐观主义的拔河，是我们堂而皇之地剥削别人的委婉说法，是为获取社会资本，为了得到我们所想要的东西而编造出来的借口。

我们因此邀请您参加这次充满了天南地北的神侃，可口诱人的烤肉，引人入胜的电影和音乐的夜晚。家作坊式表演性的释放必会让您不虚此行。

活动特色：

－8米长香艳BBQ（您想烤什么就带什么，如果有地域特色更好）

－电影放映：
《实用英语》，林美雅
《For Ann, Building a House》，何颖雅
《Brochette》，马修
《什么是文化交流？》，小径厂胡同居民和朋友

－成见宣言

－充满了惊喜的打球游戏

“Cultural Exchange” is a form of service design. One obtains and one receives, one claims or is conquered, one is passive or one is active.

For HomeShop series number two, “Cultural Exchange” means an opportunity to cast hearty shadow upon all those exchanges which we could have imagined so clearly. It is a tag word of instant optimism, the justification for all our exploits, euphemism for social capital, for getting what you damn well want.

We hereby invite you to join in an intercultural evening of silly banter, regional barbecue and a selection of world film and music. Performativity abounds, HomeShop-style.

Featuring:

– 8 meter long soft porn BBQ (bring your own edibles to put on the grill, preferably representative of your home country), courtesy of Matthieu Pilloud

– on projection:
“Practical English”, courtesy of Meiya Lin
“For Ann, Building a House”, courtesy of Elaine W. Ho
“Brochette”, courtesy of Matthieu Pilloud
“What is cultural exchange?”, courtesy of the residents and friends of Xiaojingchang Hutong

– stereotype sessions

– and a ball-hitting contest for a happy ending full of surprises

“Intercambio Cultural” es una forma de diseño de servicio. Uno obtiene y uno recibe, uno reclama o es conquistado, uno es pasivo o activo.

Para la segunda serie de HomeShop, “Intercambio Cultural” es una oportunidad para moldear sombra campechana sobre todos esos intercambios que hubiésemos imaginado tan claros. Es una palabra de etiqueta para optimismo instantáneo, una justificación para todas nuestras explotaciones, un eufemismo para el capital social, para obtener lo que te da la gana. Por la presente, te invitamos a una noche intercultural de tonterías, barbacoa regional y una colección de música y cine mundial. Performatividad abunda, al estilo de HomeShop.

La noche incluye:

– ocho metros de barbacoa pornográfica (trae tus propios comestibles para la parilla, de preferencia representativos de tu propio país)

– para el video proyección:
“Practical English”, cortesía de Meiya Lin.
“For Ann, building a house”, cortesía de Elaine W. Ho.
“Brochette”, cortesía de Matthieu Pilloud.
“¿Qué es intercambio cultural?”, cortesía de los vecinos y amigos de Xiaojingchang Hutong.

– sesiones de estereotipo.

– concurso rompe la piñata para una conclusión feliz llena de sorpresas.

Zynisches Grillfest + Kulturaustausch

Aktiv oder passiv sein, besorgen oder erhalten, beanspruchen oder gewinnen – eine Form von Kulturaustausch.

Zweite HomeShop Serie: “Kulturaustausch” gibt uns die Möglichkeit unsere abgeklärten Gedanken und Vorstellungen zu formen. Es ist ein Wort das mit einem sofortigen Optimismus besetzt wird, es wird als Begründung für unsere Heldentaten verwendet wie auch als Euphemismus für Sozial Kapital; es wird benutzt um zu begründen was wir Gott verdammt einfach nur wollen.

Hiermit laden wir euch herzlich ein, einen interkulturellen Abend mit uns zu verbringen, mit small-talk, regionalem BBQ, und eine Auswahl von Welt Film und Musik. Eine unvergessliche Performanz unserer Zeit, HomeShop-style.

Program:

– 8 meter langer soft porn BBQ (bring deine Esswaren fuer den Grill, bevorzugt von deiner Heimat) work by Matthieu Pilloud
– verschiedene Künstlerfilme auf Leinwand projeziert
– stereotype sessions
– ball hitting contest für ein glückliches Ende voller Überraschungen

« l’Echange Culturel » est une forme de service design. On obtient et on reçoit, on réclame ou on est conquis, on est passif ou actif.

Pour la série HomeShop numéro deux : « L’Echange culturel » signifie une occasion pour dessiner une ombre chaleureuse sur tous ces échanges que nous aurions pu imaginer si clairs. C’est un mot-étiquette d’optimisme immédiat, la raison pour tous nos exploits, notre tendance à enjoliver notre capital social, pour obtenir ce que l’on veut.

Par la présente, on vous invite à participer à une soirée interculturelle de plaisanteries, un barbecue régional et une sélection de films et de musiques mondiales: performativitée abonde, à la manière de HomeShop.

Programme :

– huit mètres de barbecue porno (amenez des comestibles pour le gril, préférablement représentant votre propre pays) par Matthieu Pilloud.

– Projections :

« Practical English », par Meiya Lin
« For Ann, building a house », par Elaine W. Ho
« Brochette », par Matthieu Pilloud
« Quel est l’échange culturel? », par les voisins et les amis de Xiaojingchang Hutong

– séances de stéréotype

– ball-hitting contest pour une fin heureuse pleine de surprises

[“玩世不恭BBQ与文化交流”是由戴璞、飞力璞、何颖雅、胡挹工 、欧阳潇、马修与曲一箴代表家作坊主办的。｜  This event is brought to you by Dai Pu, Felipe Escudero, Elaine W. Ho, Hu Yigong, Ouyang Xiao, Matthieu Pilloud and Qu Yizhen for HomeShop. 16 wheel mud flap sexy image by Felipe.]

1.  The level of meaningful cultural exchange in any given project is indirectly proportional to the frequency at which the metaphor of the ‘bridge’ occurs, as in “…building a bridge between our two peoples”, “crossing the bridge which links our two great cultures…” etc.

1a. Cultural exchange is in inverse proportion to both the number and length of politician’s speeches endured in the pursuit of any given venture.

1b.  Cultural exchange is also in inverse proportion to the number of Embassy and British Council receptions given in its honour.

2.  Cultural exchange, like art, happens when politics and money blink.

[from “The Limits of Cultural Exchange“,  Bill Armstrong]

Preparations now in progress for a cynical barbecue of cultural exchange, to take place Saturday, 11 July. More details coming soon!  胡、欧阳、马修、飞力璞、何颖雅和戴璞正在准备家作坊的悲观文化交流BBQ! 7月11日，下个星期六！请静候我们的进一步消息~

21 june 2009.

On one hand, she says “cultural” outside of the ‘China vs. the World’ binaries that are so well-preserved in these parts, but on another she’s hand, let’s focus upon the “exchange” part of that phrasing rather than the “cultural”.

Okay, so naïvely, let’s broaden our minor understandings of culture:

From the Department of Social Relations, (why people act as they do)… 1. the “behavioral system” of biological needs… 2. the “personality system” of an individual’s characteristics affecting their functioning in the social world… 3. the “social system” of patterns of units of social interaction, especially social status and role… 4. the “cultural system” of norms and values that regulate social action symbolically.

If we can focus upon such exchanges with less quantitative referent to their final outcomes——e.g., commodity, your value for the money, the art product——we try to focus instead upon the cycles, flows and transmissions thereof, observation and documentation as an active process and deconstruction. I don’t know how much it is possible to tear down what we want to see. I don’t know how much it is possible to open oneself to the context, how that refers to the organisational motions toward content. What content can be put forth without specific agendas, can means without ends really be a geopolitical question (the living organisation of the city), or is it just too banal (the routine), too asocial (acommunicative)? what about adding another word to the question of context as content? “Continuity.” The minor displacements over time in Reich-ian fashion, repetition conjoined with all our failures in memory as an open-ended form of exchange. Growing up.

(small note for sportsbabel: wondering if my hesitation about ‘the gift’ has to do with that isolated ending, if “gift-ing” as a theoretical practice renders something different?)