798 Art District (5): Dog Art at the Xin Dong Cheng Space for Contemporary Art

Loved this series by Hung-Chin Peng, called "Face to Face", in the Xin Dong Cheng Space for Contemporary Art Gallery in the 798.  Its not just because I love dogs, these are tender works.

The first is a series of dog sculptures made of fiberglass and incorporate sound.  The dogs' forms are exaggerated shapes and their heads/skulls are open so that you can see from the inside, viewing out through their gaze.

Yes, that is a portrait of Che Guevara, by Xue Song, in the background.

Near the sculptures, in a small adjacent room, is a small monitor playing a loop of film that runs both forward and backward.  It shows a dog licking away and then (as it runs backward) seeming to write excerpts from the Analects of Confucius. I wonder what they used to paint the characters?  Something yummy, I expect. To a dog, anyway. This clip shows the dog "writing" the following: "When a bird is about to die, his cry is full of sorrow.  When a man is about to die, his words can only be good and truthful."  Click here for their website.

Sketchy

David Sketching at 4th Presbyterian, by Midori Tajiri

David and I went sketching the other day.  We've got kind of a "Jack Sprat" situation where he only draws inanimate objects (architecture) and I only draw animate living things (people and animals).  No matter, he drew the steeple of the 4th Presbyterian Church and I drew him!

I had forgotten how cathartic and enjoyable it is to draw.  It inspired me to scan some older sketches.  Here are a few of my favorite dog sketches I did several years ago.  The first is my beloved dog, Mono, who passed away a few years ago.  The other sketches are dogs, Jane and Rudy and their owner, my old friend, Sean. 

Mono, Sleeping by Midori Tajiri

Jane and Rudy, Sleeping by Midori Tajiri

Sean '00, by Midori Tajiri