By Mao Xinhui
What spark will the graffiti art "shaking hands" with the old factory building start? A graffiti Art Festival with the theme of "taking place" was held in Anbo Road. Huge exterior wall of the old factory building has turned into an "urban canvas" for artists.
CZH, located on Anbo Road, was originally old workshops of Shanghai Tractor Internal Combustion Engine Factory, now transforming into an entrepreneurial park. In this graffiti Art Festival, a number of artists from Xinjiang, Guangzhou, Fujian and Shanghai were spraying and painting different stories in every corner of the park.
Artist Satr from Guangzhou leverages a very transparent spraying and painting technique to embody the soft freehand brushwork of Eastern painting. She shows the vitality of spring with a cheetah sniffing flowers, foreboding that beauty is about to happen.
Artist Hali has painted on such a huge "canvas" (200+ square meters) for the first time, and it took him up to 4 days. A colorful goldfish "leaping on the wall". Hali introduced that disco ball and 8-bit digital space represent the past, driverless technology and mobile phones stand for the future industrial civilization, and goldfish symbolizes confusion under the transformation of era, manifesting the present and the era of stories over a generation.
However, artist Shier has attempted to paint in an open park for the first time. He chose a black wall of old factory building as the background and creative foundation to paint creative characters with profound metallic texture. The character crosses hands in a meditation posture. The whole painting only exploits black and white, imbued with tensile force. "It feels better to paint in the park, because it is a public occasion, and many passers-by will see our works."
In a pop-up store on the side, installation works jointly created by artists from Shanghai, Xinjiang and Fujian are also worth viewing. The lifelike red carp in the middle was drawn by Shanghai local artist Hali with a 3D printing pen, the surrounding dragon is a calligraphy-based creative paper-cut work by Fujian artist Semik, while the exotic graffiti on the ground is abstract representation of Uyghur characters by Xinjiang artist Donis.
Hali started playing with graffiti in college. He said in the past, many people had prejudice against graffiti art and thought it was scribbling. But as graffiti art gradually approaches the public, people began to accept this form of art, and the demand for this original art was also growing. Within a few days of exhibition, Hali received a business offer. However, he told reporters that compared with material rewards, the most important sense of accomplishment for graffiti is sharing. "During the painting process, some children passing by had some childlike thoughts about my paintings, which inspired me a great deal. In my view, the interaction with people is the most intriguing part of public art works."
Since its inception, graffiti culture has placed emphasis on individual expression and talk. This event also set up an interactive area in the market center, allowing "itchy" audiences to experience the charm of graffiti. Some people scribble on the wall at random, some send physical graffiti bullet screen to ridicule "996", and some write "Travel Here"... Citizen Ms. Lu is an employee of a nearby company and a blogger keen on sharing. "This kind of experience is very interesting to do graffiti, spray painting on the scene, and open mind at will. The moment of pressing nozzle, you become a little happier. The park renders an overall feeling of fashion, fitting with young people."
It is reported that, as a highlight project created by Da Chuang Zhi, CZH continuously empowers industrial heritage with creativity, breathes new life into the community with trend, and imagine infinite possibilities of urban renewal.
According to Ma Pingchuan, the operator of Da Chuang Zhi Park, brilliant trendy culture events will be held this year. "In May, an installation art festival will be held, inviting artists to engage in cultural interaction between public spaces and people in the park."