Charles Lanceplaine, Shanghai-based videographer, captures the Shanghai skating scene in his last work made in collaboration with Shanghai 5. Giving a complete look at the fast paced city development from different points of view, the video includes interview to brand managers and professionals working in and around Shanghai’s skateboard scene.

Click here to view the embedded video.

via hypebeast

Shanghai 5: Skateboarding in Shanghai by Charles Lanceplaine is a post from: SLAMXHYPE

I first saw the Chinese farmer/ robot maker Mr Wu in a documentary by the British comedian Paul Merton back in 2007. My second encounter with Wu was the current exhibition “Cai Guo Qiang – Peasant Da Vincis” ((www.jellymon.com)) at Rock Bund Museum in Shanghai.

After a few fairly confusing telephone conversations between Joan (in our Beijing team) and Mrs Wu (“ Robot Widow” in Paul Merton’s words), we were set on a journey to visit the mysterious farm of robots and Mr Wu.

It was a Sunday, 40 degrees underneath fake palm trees in Beijing, we were greeted passionately by his two dogs (they could be made out of a stuffed Chow Chow and something else). There stood Mr Wu Yu Lu among his robots and pieces of metal parts all over his courtyard. We were invited to his living room… is like a shrine – four walls full of his pictures on television, with foreign journalist, I am sure Paul was up there some where. Mr Wu demonstrated some of his classics and the latest work.

Shine and Joan with Mr Wu and the legendary “Wu Lao Er Shi Wu” (Wu’s 25th son), he enjoys taking his dad out shopping.

A boy robot that lights cigarettes and tell you off for smoking.

This is the big brother of the Smoking Robot (smaller in size but he was the first generation of robot that Mr Wu made that could accurately light up a ciggy). I named him Toastie… Toastie has a baby face he’s older than you think!

Check out the rat robot on the far right, he walks around and humps anything with legs.

A Barbie-like doll that climbs up and down the ladder.

This one just happy walking and waving her arms about, but creepily identical with Mori – designer in our Shanghai office.

A boxing glove and a fan?! This girl will fan you while she massage you. Sounds pretty good as long as you don’t look at her face…

Not in the picture: A robot that writes Chinese Calligraphy and paint; a robot that plays “Er Hu” (Chinese musical instrument); a suicidal robot that likes to jump off buildings…

Something about these robots, so much fun and love with their daddy, few hours in the hot sun with Mr Wu, we  sensed an incredible loneliness and frustration, I think creativity is a lonely process whether you are in a farm or a studio. There is child-like innocence and sinister twinkle in Mr Wu’s eyes, the two important factors for us to start an interesting collaboration.

To be continue…

Meeting Mr Wu – The Robot Farmer. is a post from: SLAMXHYPE

“Another amusement park in China?”  The Shanghai Expo could be the last Expo that anyone actually cares about…

Hai Bao- the mascot, chosen from a quarter of a million entries…   a fat and blue version of Gumby?

Sorry I’m not sharing the best side, but I guess you’ve seen the good side elsewhere. This is a very odd banana body suit, worn by not so professional dancers.

This guy is… so fresh so clean clean …

Julian Opie in China? The Chinese Pavilion is an experience, here you would experience the incredible eyesore as the result of lazy linear thinking, inappropriate scale, and artistically irrelevant.

Seems like none of the countries would like to have their flags out to indicate their own pavilions…

Koran Pavilion is the world’s largest nail salon…

Russian Pavilion, it looks like one the sample books I got from my metal supplier.

Finally Thomas Heatherwick’s British Pavilion, it’s the most powerful statement.

I would come twice just to see this building.

It is worth just coming to see how the locals react to it.

They said this is the second best, the Spanish Pavilion by Benedetta Tagliabue.

I am not a hater, I just wish this could be less predictable. We know our country loves to build,  but who and what are we building for? Like the Olympics and the millions of sky-high developments that are built and demolished, can we build to last? How many times you can go through face-lift before you completely loose your face?

Better Think Better Think Twice.

Better City Better Life – Shanghai Expo is a post from: SLAMXHYPE

After a year of hard work preparation, we are officially open in the beautiful Tuan Jie Hu Park in the heart of Beijing CBD Chao Yang District. While our Shanghai studio is in a small lane with a garden, a spooky well and our local pink massage joint. Our Beijing studio over-looks people practicing Taichi, calligraphy and senior citizen blind-dating.

The lake in front of  our studio – Tuan Jie Hu (United Lake).

Old people gambling and some blind-dating… or simply moan about grand children…

Fish in the lake…Ninagawa Mika Style…

We were checking on progress… with the big daddy!

Shine, Wright, Mori, Lulu, Yokai (left-right). My Shanghai team fresh off the train… I can’t do it in Beijing without them!

We had a little opening party, little that I remembered other than being really happy to have my whole team and friends in town from thousand miles away!

Nick B,Sammy (the other half of Jellymon Shanghai), Queenie

Shine (Manager, Jellymon Shanghai), Mori (Designer, Jellymon Shanghai)

Meili (My Hawaiian Sweetheart), Lenny aka Futura.

Thank you all for spreading the love! WE ARE OPENED FOR BUSINESS!

Jellymon Beijing In The Park is a post from: SLAMXHYPE

Few weeks ago I put up a post about Seagull brand camera. If you are in town this Friday, please come check out  the show: 

The Seagull Lao Ke Le exhibition will be held at Factory in a the beautiful 1933 architecture in Hong Kou Distrit in Shanghai . Showcasing photographs taken with the China heritage brand Seagull Camera’s classic SLR, Medium Format and Rangefinder cameras. The photographers involved in the show are up and coming and well known Chinese and international photographers, designers and musicians. The exhibition will also introduce the brand and it’s history and will display vintage cameras which will be for sale in The Factory shop.

About Seagull:

The Shanghai Camera Factory was founded in 1958. It was only in 1964 when it was decided that they would enter the export business was the company renamed as Seagull. They started of life creating duel lens cameras based on rolleiflexes, they even created a camera for Madame Jiang (Mao’s wife) called the Red Flag 20 (a copy of the Leica M4) which is now incredibly valuable as only 200 were made.
Seagull have made over 20 million cameras since they were founded but like many state run ‘heritage brands’ are finding it hard to fit into the modern marketplace.

Photographers in the show:

Taking part in the show is a select group of up and coming and well known photographers, artists and musicians.
Tony Law, 223 and Madi Ju are well known photographers from Beijing, who between them, have shot for Vice Magazine, The New York Times, Wallpaper, Vogue, Elle and many others. Jovi Xu style icon and designer from Guilin. Alex So from Guangzhou, editor of the influential Cold Tea magazine. Rodney Evans professional photographer from Sydney based in Shanghai. Cotton and Tata from Xiamen’s M-Style magazine. Jenn Wong, Korean Canadian based in Shanghai who has shot for Nylon,
Dazed and Confused Magazine and Rolling Stone. Xiao Punk, singer of the shanghai based band Boys Climbing Ropes. Peng Lai from the well known Beijing rock group New Pants and many others.

What is Lao Ke Le:

Lao Ke Le is a shanghainese colloquial term which originated in the 1930’s. In jazz-era Shanghai there was a newly emerging class of people known as the “Lao Ke Le (老克勒)”. “Ke Le” is a transliteration of the English word “Color” and described the colorful nature of 1930’s Shanghai life. “Ke Le” is also derived from the word for class in Chinese, which speaks of the type of westernized Chinese that would be known as the Lao Ke Le. The Lao Ke Le were well dressed, modern Shanghainese who mixed easily with the foreigners inhabiting the city. They were pioneers in mixing eastern and western culture which shaped the city and created a type of forward thinking which can still be seen throughout Shanghai today.

1933 Creative Complex
1ST FLR, BUILDING 4, 29 SHAJING ROAD,
HONGKOU DISTRICT,
SHANGHAI, P.R.C.
200075

“Lao Ke Le” Seagull Camera exhibition by Jellymon Shanghai is a post from: SLAMXHYPE

MIDI music festival-Shanghai is a post from: SLAMXHYPE

It’s not easy to get hold of foreign art and design books & magazines in China, there are often too expensive or outdated. A friend hooked us up with his illegal book dealer that sells a good selection of cheap “fake” art books. We brought two yesterday for the first time, we were in the middle of an interview, so totally judged the books by their covers and paid for them. One of them has some interesting cover graphics on fancy paper, we brought it for RMB120.

Soon we found out two familiar pages… there were our own work!!!!!!

Left page: stuff we did for Nike. Right page: 3 watches we did for Casio, 1 watch we definitely didn’t do and the graphic on the bottom right of the page we didn’t design and some babbling nonsense.

Unsurprisingly published by ‘unknown publisher’. We had no idea about this book and definitely didn’t give permission for our work to be used. They just took some images/text from our site and then added a few random things we didn’t even do and some strange nonsensical text, we took a closer look, “Jellymon” name was on the cover too!

Sigh… I think I’ll stay away from fake books for a while.

Fake Books is a post from: SLAMXHYPE

Today it brings a tear to my eyes to see “Shanghai through the lens of his pencil”.

“Shanghai can be a visually overwhelming city. Drawing it forces me to slow down and delight in the richness of its detail – magazine at a newsstand, a traffic warden, tea flask, duct tape around a rusty drain pipe etc. After observing such elements, I am free to stylize, reconfigure, omit and accentuate them as I rebuild my own scene. The aim of this series is to give the viewer something intimately familiar, and yet the impression of seeing it for the first time.”
- Nial O’ Connor (aka Zeldz Magnoonis)

Shanghai 8:60am by Liao Yang

Shudra, by Wang Chao.
The exhibition also showcases two young Chinese artists’ work, Wang Chao from Jiang Xi was the youngest one. Born in 1985, he is still doing his final year in China Academy of Arts majoring in traditional Chinese painting. Wang Chao named his work “ Shudra” (the lowest form of the four Varnas, Hinduism categorizes the people into four “Varnas”), Shudras were essentially rural labours who served the three higher ranking of Varnas. The Shudra series is comprised of mixed media pieces and animation which shows his interpretation and confrontation of hierarchy in the modern China city. One’s status in society determines whether you will be prosperous in respect, wealth and rights.

Wang Chao told me he’s opening up his own studio doing animation and drawings with fearless confidence, his optimistic view made me feel sorry for my jaded self yet relived he’s not going to waste his talent in some rubbish 4A advertising company in order to climb the conventional social ladder.

We all sat down for a spicy meal at Di Sui Dong…

Stunning young talents at Draw.ing n @ Art Plus gallery is a post from: SLAMXHYPE

Creative Social 2008 this year is hosted by Profero (a digital agency) in one of the most beautiful historical building in Shanghai 1933 (www.1933-shanghai.com) . It gathered creative directors from advertising agencies, creative medias from around the world in one place to inspire each other.

We were asked to speak at the event with a host of other interesting local creative types including, DJ V-Nutz (he organized a mashup of Chinese traditional music and hip hop), Dodo, a product designer, 23 year old Hong Kong film maker Heiward Mak who’s first feature film ‘High Noon’ has just been released and Journalist and Shanghai historian Stella Dong who’s book Shanghai: the Rise and Fall of a Decadent City has recently been published.

• We want to be that spoon full of sugar that helps the medicine go down.

• Gary and his star pupil DJ and a band with Chinese traditional instruments of Pipa and Erhu.

• New York base historian Stella Dong discussion with 3 Fu Dan university students in Shanghai.

• It was a 12 hour full day event, little breaks were given by the host:)

We also put together a little exhibition for Creative Social, featuring 4 local brands Inky, CHairMAN, MRKT by TWOFS and At.Between.

• Inky, Shanghai Streetwear brand.

• TWOFS products.

• ChairMan, Shanghai streetwear brand.

Shanghai brand watches collaboration: Jellymon x Shanghai brand Watch x W+K Shanghai.

We also picked 3 Chinese artists/designers to work with on our New School Nankeen Sheets. The term Blue Nankeen describes a type of hand-printed fabric of artistic refinement and primitive simplicity which originated on the Silk Road over three thousand years ago.

• James Chang’s deconstructed pattern.

• Jellymon’s Shanghai psychedelic skyline landmark pattern.

This one is my favorite, Shanghai graphic artist Rubber Pixie’s intricate insect life.

• China’s female graffiti artist Sice’s ” Girls paint better!”.

Hand-carved stencils, originally made from wood but now from heavy paper, are prepared and a mix of soya bean flour and slaked lime is applied through the openings of the stencil onto the cotton fabric. When dry, the fabric is then dipped numerous times into the large tubs containing the indigo dye. After the right color is achieved and the fabric has dried, the paste is scraped off, revealing the white patterns on the blue cloth.

For our ‘New School Nankeen Sheets’ we wanted to take an art-form which is often viewed as traditional or old fashioned and work with 3 of our favorite Chinese designers to produce a new take on an old classic.

for a different opinion check here… Creative Review

Creative Social 2008 in 1933 Shanghai is a post from: SLAMXHYPE

Sorry guys, I know I should be writing about design, art, fashion or culture in this blog, but I really can’t let this one slip through…

3 out of 5 men I met recently asked me if I’m gay or swing both ways, well I’m straight for sure but there are just too many cute girls in this city I can not help checking out. I got to tell you though, it’s really unfair to be a female in Shanghai, men get all the good options, girls are pretty and opened minded, now if you are healthy kind-hearted man who like to contribute to the Shanghai Sperm Bank, the girls will go that extra mile to give you a hand!

First you need to go for a health check, then 4 days prior your visit to the “free-hand-job-then-get-paid-paradise” you must abstain from sex and masturbation. You can go 4-5 times a month, and each time you will get maximum 3 hand jobs. You will also get paid RMB200 ( US$30 ) at the end of each session for your kindness.

Address for whoever wants to give it a go: No 145 Shan Dong Zhong Lu, Ren Ji Hospital, Building 1, 7th FL, near Fu Zhou Lu, Shanghai, China.

I might start a “designer-sperm-bank”, collect the best designers/artists sperm from around the world, so there will be more mix-race children, less racism, hopefully all artistic too… Ok I’ll stop now…

Shanghai – that Extra Mile… is a post from: SLAMXHYPE

After my trip to US, I’ve been hiding and working on the “No Reason” show, this show is JELLYMON team’s little baby. The concept is really simple : with no sponsors, no corporate tie-ins, no one graffiti on soft drink cans or sneakers, just a selection of work from us and our friends around the world, with prints on sale for as cheap as we could possibly sell them and still break-even. We don’t need a reason to enjoy art and design, we don’t need a sponsor to party, and most of all you don’t need to spend a lot of money you can still own at least a piece of art print! More photos after the jump..

The talented photographer 223 from Beijing, just had his solo show at the Song Zhuang Art Museum in Beijing.

Mr Tsang spinning his love…

Lady in Red, Artist Shinjil next to her work.

Sammy and I has this “Hip Art Supermarket” idea a while ago, “No Reason” show is a little test for us. We gathered 20 graphic artists, photographers and designers from UK, Europe, US, Taiwan and China. Including our own work we are showing 47 pieces of art prints. Each print is limited 100 prints, and is selling for almost print cost. You walk in with an order form, fill in what you like and within the city you will get it unframed or framed in 3 working days.

My partner Sam : “Thank you is all I want to say! ”

Special thanks to participating artists:

The Wonderful Design Works (Tokyo), Tado (UK), Jon Burgerman (UK), Nanospore (USA), Gaston Cabo (ARG), MISHKA NYC (USA), Nial (IRE/AUS), REACH (TW), Rodney Evans (AUS), Sean Tucker (NYC), WZL/大王 (Beijing), JOVIXU/許仙人 (Guilin), BeiBang (Shanghai), 223 (Beijing), Alex So (Guangzhou), Tony Law (USA/Beijing), Madi Ju (Beijing), Pop for Jellymon, LULU for Jellymon, 大码子/Inky(SH), Ceilen Lau(SH), Shinjil(SH), Unitag (SH)

love to Mr Tsang and DJ V-nuts for the music, Chris and Toney (Source) , Mishka NYC came all this way, 223 from Beijing, Rodney Evans and Nial from Australia , all the Shanghai base artists and 600+ those who come to celebrate with us!

” “No Reason” by Jellymon & Friends Opening @ Source Shanghai is a post from: SLAMXHYPE

Chinese authorities have created a 1,000 square-foot model of what they envision Shanghai to look like in the not-to distant year of 2020. The model features some very intricate details which make for a very interesting model, to say the least. It is really amazing to see the projected look of the city in such great detail with the landscaping, buildings, rivers, bodies of water, sports stadiums, and all the other structures. Thanks to Gizmodo for the images.

A Projected Look at Shanghai in the Year 2020 is a post from: SLAMXHYPE