Located at the junction of Beijing's Capital Airport Auxiliary Road and the Fifth Ring Road, Caodidi has always been one of the most influential art communities in China. Compared with the commercially complete 798, the settled institutions here are located in courtyards - red no. 1 courtyard, gray brick house, no. 104 courtyard, no. 155 courtyard, and some loosely scattered in various streets and alleys. On one side are the high walls of art, galleries, artists' studios, art spaces, quiet, restrained and orderly; on the other side is the daily life of the village, private dishes without facades, densely packed lattice shops in narrow alleys, landlords and tenants of each family, and young people who rush out of the village to commute during the day. This is the double-sided grass field.
Above: Exterior view of the Caochangdi block
Middle: Interior view of the Yuan Museum
Below: Empty space in the snow
Under the seemingly low-key and stable business format, a series of changes such as the waves that dormant on the seabed have already rippled at sea level: in March last year, Qianbo Gallery announced the closure of Caochang Space, which is another space that decided to leave after the departure of Mailer, Desa, Yilang International, Amy Lee and other galleries; in September, Taikang Space announced that it had "completed the stage process" and fully promoted the construction of Taikang Art Museum; at the same time, local original design brands and designers successively hit this "Beijing's only remaining utopia". Song Tao, an artist, designer and curator, rented Courtyard 104 together with his friends Zhang Qi, Cao Feng and Wei Minghui to create the Yuan Museum, an art and design museum that popularizes oriental aesthetics, and a number of original design brands such as Xian life, Half Wood, How Much, and Su Yuan, as well as a number of independent designers, also flocked to the yuan. Last year, the launch of the "Design Spring • Beijing Caotiandi Art Life Demonstration Zone" seemed to announce that in just two years, the neighborhood of Caodidi has been silently changing.
Above: Designer logo on the wall
Below: Design Spring: Beijing Caochangdi International Art Village Life Map
Holding the latest design spring and beijing caochangdi international art village life map, the domestic original design power jumped on the paper. Wen Hao, the founder of The First Life, started from the three sections of art, culture and design, and opened three independent spaces in the Red No. 1 Courtyard and the Gray Brick House; the brand U+ settled in the Red No. 1 Courtyard as early as the spring of 2019, and the newly opened Life Aesthetics Museum took nearly a year to build; the Hong No. 2 Courtyard with half a wood and many sites on the side opened an aesthetic space respectively; Su Yuan designed a "Yuan Workshop" in the No. 319 Courtyard at the end of the map; the No. 104 Courtyard not far away, Song Tao, Zhang Qi, Cao Feng, Wei Minghui's four people each occupy a corner, of which "Back to the Twentieth Century" also extends to the side of the No. 115 Courtyard, looking at the long-operated Sanyingtang Photography Art Center. In addition, Song Tao moved into Courtyard 100 with designer Wang Ling and artist Wu Haoyu, where they tried to challenge the frontier of art and design, and came zhou Chenchen, a designer and founder of Frank Chou Design Studio, whose studio is located in Red No. 1 Courtyard.
Interior view of the Yuan Museum
This isn't all the brands that are stationed in the grass field, but it is sending a clear signal: the grass field, where independent designers gather.
"We've been looking for the right space and wanted to get together, but it's hard to find the right one." Song Tao sighed, "Designers like two types of spaces the most: one is the factory building, and the other is the gallery type. However, almost all of these spaces tend to be leased to galleries and art institutions, even at the beginning of construction.
Interior view of The Yuan Museum: The Yuan Museum has made a large number of art fusion display spaces for designer brands, including two spaces for the first life, how many and U+ spaces.
Song Tao is no stranger to grass fields. In 1995, after returning from studying in France, he opened TAO Gallery, which allowed him to meet a wave of artists before the first-class market of Chinese contemporary art was in its infancy. Song Tao and Ai Weiwei once witnessed the grassland in the 1990s: it was a complete open space, surrounded by no high-rise buildings or commercial facilities, and the only feature was that it was next to a train track. Later, everyone knows: In 1999, Ai Weiwei spent about 100 days to build the original grassland yard. Five years later, Mao Ran, a patron of contemporary art, came here and signed a 20-year land use agreement with the village, becoming the first person to develop a grassland. In this regard, Mao Ran admitted in an interview with the media that he did not realize that it would develop so fast, and this move was mixed with some "blindness". Nevertheless, Sun Ning, who had just returned from studying in London, embraced the attitude of establishing the "Institute of Contemporary Arts", and in 2005 opened a platform China that had not yet turned to the gallery; in November of the same year, Ma Zhi'an, a "foreigner" who had already experienced in galleries, also aimed to focus on this artistic depression, with more than 600 square meters of space still being built by Ai Weiwei. Since then, Mailer (2006), Qianbo (2007), Three Shadows (2007), C Space (2008), Lai Space (2008) and other galleries have gathered here, and the original art line-up of Caochangchangdi has been opened.
At that stage, Song Tao locked his eyes on the local original design of "a blank". In 2002, he opened a two-year-old "self-made society" in COFCO Plaza, where rents are high. The so-called "self-made", that is, self-made furniture design that extends the oriental aesthetics and spirit. In addition to freelance products, he also represents brands such as Chunzai and Gaodian in Taiwan, and relies on his early gallery experience to combine art and design.
Interior view of the Yuan Museum
The Yuan Museum is Song Tao's long-cherished wish for 10 years. In May 2020, he learned from Mao Ran that there was space in the grass field and immediately made a decision. 2000 square meters of No. 104 courtyard, four people each occupy one side. Song Tao's space is almost unchanged, the first floor is an exhibition hall for exhibitions, and the second floor is an office and public reception space. Cao Feng, who is keen on collecting classic medieval furniture from the East and the West, has opened an exhibition hall "Back to the Twentieth Century" on the first floor, and a design library on the second floor. Zhang Qi, who used to work for CCTV International Channel, came into contact with hand-woven carpets during a foreign assignment, and his strong curiosity led him to create an art carpet brand and cooperate with 120 artists. Wei Minghui, who came from a graphic design background, studied jazz and utensils, and his studio has a large collection of vinyl photos, which are archived according to style, label and age. "I had a good impression of this place before. Now whenever I hear that there is space around, I will talk to my friends. "Independent designers are finding their utopia in Beijing for the first time in history, and they are trying to "conquer" grass fields.
Empty space in the snow at the end of 2021
A few days ago, it snowed overnight in Beijing, and the courtyard of the empty space was covered with a layer of pure snow. Artist Wang Qiang's solo exhibition "Familiar Night" has just ended, and the exhibition hall reveals the most primitive appearance - such as snow, like the façade of this building, empty white walls surrounded by the most classic "white box". With an area of about 1,500 square meters and a ceiling height of 7 meters, two exhibition halls of the same size are unpretentious at the moment, but can be infinitely shaped. On May 15 last year, two exhibitions opened at the same time, with artist Jane curating his solo exhibition "Paradise" on the right, three walls wrapped in wallpaper patterned by the porch of Berlin's veteran department store KaDeWe, and the lights of the entire exhibition hall flashed, and each work presented two distinct visual tensions under the reflection of white light and purple light. On the other hand, Li Liao, an artist who has also known the gallery for many years, "plays" bigger, and he divides the exhibition hall into home rooms to restore the "Li Family House" founded in Shenzhen. The participating artists are all "post-90s" and are personally invited by him. These young people create propositions based on the keywords provided by Feng Shui curator Yuan Ji, and the works are interspersed with a labyrinth of exhibition sites.
Above: Blank Space Front Desk; Bottom: Gao Ludi's solo exhibition "gū dú", White Space, May 18 to July 30, 2013; Yang Jian's solo exhibition "Simple Machinery", Blank Space, September 1 to November 11, 2012; Liu Xinyi solo exhibition "Agent L", Blank Space, June 23 to July 30, 2012; Li Liao solo exhibition "Art is Vacuum", Blank Space, September 7 to November 17, 2013 (Image courtesy of Artist and Blank Space)
On the evening of the opening day, the guests were ushered to dine on the second floor of the space. This was originally the third exhibition hall, and Gao Ludi, who has not yet graduated, and Liu Xinyi, who has just returned to China, have all stepped on the first steps of professional artists here. Today, with the gallery and the artists, the third floor has been converted into a meeting room and opening dinner venue. That night, Li Liao transformed into a chef and cooked a whole family banquet for the guests present. This is a reserved project of the "Li's Home Hongyun Exhibition" - in Shenzhen, his apartment exhibition is open to acquaintances, and visitors can bring friends to go with them, buy a "ticket", visit it, and experience the artist's private dishes. At the dinner table, the gallery he has worked with for many years is still full of curiosity about Li Liao. How is this tofu made so delicious? What is the emphasis on feng shui here? And then there are these artists, how did you find them? In the face of a series of questions, Scorpio's Li Liao cooked so hard that he oozed a thin sweat, he put the back of his hand on the top, smiled, but did not answer all the questions.
"We are willing to give artists as much freedom as possible at exhibitions." Zhang Di, director of Blank Space, said, "This exhibition of Li's family home is all about Li Liao as the initiator to select artists.
In 2009, a 5-year lease with 798 was closed, and the blank space was moved to a grassy field one kilometer away. At that time, the sudden financial crisis made some galleries retreat, but the blank space was determined to explore and promote the new generation of artists. "It was a crazy and risky decision at the time." Zhang Di recalled. At that time, the grassland field, the Swiss "Lao Mai", had been in courtyard 104 for three years, and in the first year he held solo exhibitions for artists such as Li Songsong and Xia Xiaowan; Mao Weiqing, who had been deeply touched by the group exhibition "Inside Out: Chinese New Art", also opened branches of Qianbo Gallery here in 2007 with the encouragement of friends; ShanghART, Taikang Space, Li Space, Three Shadows and other galleries and institutions were also among them. Zhang Di recalled that in the previous years of the grass field, she did not have much life connection with the village except for walking between institutions. The galleries were self-contained, experimental, avant-garde, loose, breathing, and the grassy fields were once delicately balanced.
A VIP room with empty space, art extends into practicality
In 2014, the Asia Art Center was forced to close its doors to allow the 798 "clean-up of the second landlord" incident to come to the surface, and the grass field was another undercurrent: the Emily Gallery, which moved from 22 Courtyard Street, doubled the original 400 square meters of space after moving in for a year. Focusing on the exploration of contemporary ink painting, Mo Zhai raises the original one-story space to three floors. According to incomplete statistics, during the period when the artistic atmosphere was at its peak, dozens of art institutions met in the grass field. However, driven by a variety of mixed factors, more and more galleries are leaving the land they hoped for, some moving to 798, some leaving China for a while, some looking for a suitable next stop, and some rushing to Shunyi to find a new stronghold at the Bolard Art Center, where or Beijing's next international community of contemporary art.
"Design and art are inseparable, they are symbiotic and symbiotic. The integration of art and design is also the direction of the 'Design Spring'. This is Song Tao's ambition, his unchanging feelings over the past 20 years. With the ebb and flow of galleries and the strong entry of independent designers, the grass field is delicately at the intersection of old and new.
File Wallpaper* abbreviated as W*
W*: Remember the first time you saw the grass field? How do I select the current space?
Song Tao: It's early. At that time, I took Ai Wei to see the venue. I've been in 798 for the past decade and run grass fields a lot. During the epidemic, Mao Ran contacted me and said that there was room to come out and give me the most suitable. I'm familiar with the Mailer Gallery (space), which is a changeable space with different exhibitions and a very different visual experience. So I quickly decided to stay.
Zhang Di: I came to the blank space in 2006, when the gallery was still in 798, and uniformed workers could still be seen around the gallery. When the gallery's lease agreement for 798 expired in 2008, we began looking for a new space. This yard is not introduced by friends in the art circle, it is what we see on our own. At that time, I felt that this yard was very beautiful, and the layout of the house was very suitable for the gallery. Our landlord is the factory next door, Korean, in the food business. The factory owner's eldest son studied visual arts in the United States and has ideals for the art industry. The factory was so big that he asked his father to set it halfway open, put a wall in the middle, and ask korean architects to design and build this "C" space. Empty Space is the first tenant of this yard.
W*: How has the atmosphere of the grass field changed in your eyes?
Song Tao: After I came to the grass field, many people came. Designers like two types of spaces, a factory building and a gallery, high enough and large enough. The rent of grass fields is still relatively cheap, and everyone is willing to pile them together.
We've been thinking about it for ten years and haven't found the right place. It's not that we don't think differently, it's that there's no physical space. When contemporary art was active in Beijing, the good spaces of the grass field were in the gallery. Of course, at that time, independent designer brands did not rise, and it began in the past few years (with a look). This time is also because of the epidemic, some people can't come back, or the rent can't be paid, and the house is empty. At this point, everyone came together.
Zhang Di: If the entry of art has made 798 change dramatically, then the change in the grass field is really not so big. There are many indigenous people here, young people go to work during the day, and those who stay behind also work here. At night, it gets extremely lively — running, working out, walking, stuffed with people. The people who lived in the village all came back.
The space here is not open on the street, and there are no windows or signboards. In the first few years, we all walked between the galleries in the village. There is an interesting little thing, a few years ago Liu Xinyi wanted to make a work on display in Taikang Space, and he needed to shoot two models. One is me, and the other is the artist Zhou Siwei, who also lives in the village. Before shooting, we had to put on makeup, and then I realized that there were so many photography studios around the gallery, which helped us with the makeup. The shooting of this work can be described as a major mobilization of resources in the village.
W*: Has the ebb and flow of galleries over the years made you worry about the stability of the space?
Song Tao: There are some force majeure factors that we cannot predict in advance. But I've heard that I shouldn't plan for a decade.
Zhang Di: In 2013, the Black Bridge was demolished, Feijia Village was demolished, and the surrounding artists' studios and spaces were constantly planned. We said we were going to tear it down the year we opened, and there were rumors every once in a while. There are some policy things that we can't influence, and we feel quite powerless. Last year, the gallery opened a second space in Shunyi, firstly because of the demand for artists and exhibition space, and secondly, to resist the sudden possibilities of the future.
W*: Finally, what would you say about describing the grass field in one sentence?
Song Tao: Beijing's last utopia.
Zhang Di: Like an irregular polyhedron, everyone experiences a different face.
Photo by Bailly
Written by: Sapphire
Edit: Xinxin
Some of the images are from Yuan Museum / Empty Space