"Culture Chanel"

Yesterday afternoon, my friend Lauren and I finally went to MOCA Shanghai to see the Culture Chanel exhibit. MOCA Shanghai is an all glass dome shaped building located in People's Park (人民场). Tickets come with a free audio tour, which is essential to understanding the exhibit, as there are no descriptions next to each piece!
All the objects are encased within a glass case, allowing the visitor to walk on the platforms and get a 360 look at the clothing and jewelry. On the first floor, there is also an interactive media room. The room is completely dark except for an interactive digital table, which is essentially a giant ipad. The table has an interactive interface, and the Chanel interlocking C's or No. 5 drift by and you "grab" it and a video pops up. Some of the videos were behind the scenes at photoshoots or castings, others were the actual runway shows, and some showed the haute couturiers painstakingly working on the collection.  The second floor has a film room, where all the different Chanel perfume ads were shown. Who knew that directors like Ridley Scott and Martin Scorsese directed Chanel ads?!
The gift shop didn't have much, but Lauren and I each bought the poster ad of the exhibit for 25rmb (about $3.80).
It's a great exhibit for anyone interested in fashion. I'm not a huge fan of Chanel, but after seeing the exhibit I certainly have a new appreciation for the timelessly chic brand.

the digital table

Shanghai propaganda poster art centre.

Wednesday afternoon, my contemporary art class took a field trip to the Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre. It's not a typical museum or gallery. PAC is located in the basement of an apartment building near the French Concession, so it's in a very nice area. There's obviously no sign advertising the center and the staircase to the basement is scary, at best. Yang Pei Ming is the Director, and he has been collecting Chinese propaganda posters for over 30 years. He often buys posters directly from printing houses, or from scholarly collections (say, ECNU decided to get rid of their collection, Mr. Yang would look at it and buy some of them). Over the years he has collected over 5000 posters.
All the posters are in Chinese, so I had no idea what they were saying, but it was interesting to see the similarities and differences in drawing/painting style from decade to decade. Most of the posters use primary colors and lots and lots of red. I don't have an interest in politics, so it was very different for me to think of propaganda as an art form.

museums.

This semester for my art history class, we're required to go to museums every other week, which I love! But, I realized something this week while I was at the Met: I don't actually like being in a museum. Allow me to explain. First, I prefer to go to a museum by myself, that way I can spend as little or as much time in an exhibit. Also, because museums are institutions of high culture, I like to dress the part and project the image of a chic young woman. Obviously I enjoy the art, so what part of museums do I not like? It's the other people. Museums are tourist attractions (especially the Met) and they tend to be really, really crowded on Tuesdays (which is when I go to museums) because who else has time to go to a museum on a Tuesday afternoon? Tourists! that's who. I realize this is a hypocritical complaint, because I go to museums when I'm a tourist, but it really hit me at the Met because there were SO many people.
On a sidenote: I actually got lost in the Met the other day. I saw the John Baldessari exhibit which is what I needed to see for class, then I thought, hey, I'm up here. I may as well look at the other exhibits! So I did. First, I looked at the Khubilai Khan, then made my way to the French impressionist room, then that's when I got lost. I honestly had no idea where I was in the museum and I didn't want to ask one of the guards what the quickest exit was...because that seemed silly. After 45 minutes (ish) I somehow found the exit, but it was actually a happy 45 minutes! I realized that I definitely want to go back to the Met one or more times before I leave in December.

the steps of the Met

I love color, so I was in awe when I saw this!

really cool installation art

talented art student.

first week of school blues.

It's only the first week of school, and I'm already having some anxiety for this semester. After the first day of class, I already had 170 pages of reading, one paper, one quiz, 18 pages of Chinese character writing, I have to go to an art exhibit before Wednesday, I have to watch Ghost World for a paper (where we compare the movie to the Bible) also due Wednesday and I have to teach myself 40 Chinese characters for the aforementioned quiz. It's just a lot to digest in one day. However, I am very pleased with my schedule (the timing of classes) and I love my classes! I'm taking an art history class and we go to a museum nearly every week, which I'm quite pleased about. I think I'm just freaking out because this weekend is super busy for me. I'm working a Fashion's Night Out event Thursday and Friday and if I do well, I may possibly get an internship I interviewed for last week, and I'm also working on Saturday and Sunday.

only 9 pages to go!

spring break plans.

I have four more days of classes before a glorious week off for spring break. I had decided in the summer that for spring break I was going to stay in New York, and I couldn't be happier with my decision. Yes, only two of my close friends are staying, but I'm going to take the week to frolic in the streets of Manhattan and do everything that I've wanted and been meaning to do. This includes: museum excursions (MOMA, Cooper-Hewitt, possibly the Guggenheim), strolling in various NYC public parks (Union sq, Washington sq, the High Line, possible Central Park), and eating lovely, lovely food. Of course, this is just a tentative plan, but I do know that one thing I absolutely must do is go to target. 

Why, you may ask? Well, I love target. love. And, next Sunday, March 14 the Liberty of London for Target line is released! I don't know too, too much about Liberty of London besides that they are a high end accessories label based in London. I do know, however, that I absolutely NEED this dress in my life, and if the kitchenware and home furnishings are the same girly, whimsical, floral prints, this is my room next year.

Also, this past weekend the weather was in the 50's! How heavenly! I had a rather enjoyable Saturday afternoon on the Upper West Side with my friend Rom. We actually went to the New York Historical Society for a History of Comm assignment, but it was still quite a pleasant afternoon. This week is supposed to stay in the 50's, so I shall use this week as a preview for my spring wardrobe! joy!!