In 2014, contemporary art in Beijing really seemed to break into rhizomatic hutong clusters. This is a process we've been following all year, with our coverage of shows in established alleyway exhibition spaces / residencies like Arrow Factory and the Institute for Provocation, new-for-2014 hutong micro-spaces Intelligentsia and I: Project Space, Dashilar pop-ups BYOB and TRIA PRIMA, and off-grid Beijing Design Week happenings. I also took a bunch of potshots at exhausting exhibition catalogue texts, which was fun. Only made it to 798 once this year personally, and that was to see Xu Zhen's exceptionally bombastic takeover bid. Otherwise I kept it in the 2nd ring. As I'm more of a music guy, I asked a bunch of artists, curators, critics, aesthetes, thinkers, people who run galleries, people who just put together exhibits in their homes, people who design stuff, people who don't have any discernible title but anyway go to a lot of art stuff in Beijing and have some things to say about it, et al, about the highs and lows of the Beijing (and greater China) art world in 2014. Here's what's up: ***

Zandie Brockett (Bactagon Projects):

at Ink Studio. The first of three exhibitions, this highly academic, museum-quality show demonstrated the significant relation between ink and the body in the format of various media (performance, traditional ink painting, video art, installation) with notable works by both the modern masters and contemporary avant-garde. A refreshing breath of air to the Beijing gallery scene. "Childhood Friends Getting Fat: 30 Years of Liu Xiaodong's Photographs" at Minsheng Art Museum: (Disclaimer: Used to work for Liu Xiaodong, though recently left). Though I will always be partial to LXD's work, I found this show to not only be pertinent to his work as a contemporary painter, but insightful to China's growth through its adolescent years. The show sheds light on the reality that the artist creates a narrative around via his painting, films, and diaries. Furthermore, while he is not a "photographer" per se, the selection of photographs and films from his archives bring him into the world of documentarian -- coupled with a brilliant interview with (Ink Studio) curator, Britta Erickson, the conversation that discusses and narrates the thirty years of photographs gives the viewer a real look into life in China from 1984 onwards... and not just from the perspective of a contemporary artist. What about the best alternative exhibits or standalone events? BYOB started in China -- the one in Dashilar is worth mentioning. Didn't see the Shanghai one though. Beijing BYOB was sensitive to the environment in which it was situated and I felt that it was a just representation of underground video art in Beijing. Alessandro Rolandi's swing at IFP was a nice piece that tried to artificially to create doubt and hesitation. The Collective Eye Symposium was far and away the best symposium and series of talks I went to this year. Curated by The Collective Eye, led by esteemed critic and curator Heinz Norbert Jocks. Very sound discussion on the mechanics of collectivity with philosophers + theorists, critics, and artists from around the world. What about the worst? "Out of the Fence" at IFP: Though the brief was intriguing and pertinent to the Beijing environment, the works were not individually strong, nor was there cohesion between the works as a group show. Though I wouldn't say they were the 'worst', the flurry of shows at Intelligentsia continuously provoked my doubts. It seems I cannot recall a particular show to critique, as they all blurred together. The frantic pace at which Intelligentsia's shows are mounted implies the curatorial program is focused more on output, quantity and/or recognition rather than on research that attempts to stimulate discussion around issues relevant to the Beijing landscape/population. In my mind, the later is what should lie at the core of an 'independent space', namely engaging a public and one's community by raising pertinent questions to stimulate positive movements within social currents. Calling a space 'a critique on the gallery system' by not selling work doesn't mean you're challenging the system, though, perhaps you're shooting yourself in the foot of self-sustainability. Tangentially, I firmly believe that if real estate-funded museums are able to clearly segregate revenue channels from curatorial programs, and allow curators autonomy in research and exhibition development, the distinction between 'for profit' and 'non-for-profit' is actually irrelevant. What's relevant is maintaining that steady revenue source for operations, thus ensuring public education and engaging programming can be continued. That aside, Intelligentsia's mode of 'curating' is a bit worrisome -- with 'everything but the kitchen sink'-like exhibitions, the unnecessarily jam packed shows detract from the works themselves and the dialogue the works are trying to have with the audience/history/etc. Unfortunately the term 'curator' is used far too frequently in this contemporary age -- 'curator' dictated rhetoric and re-appropriation of other artist's work to prove philosophically contrived themes is not curating. Perhaps it is another form of artistic practice, where the show as a whole can be seen as a work in-it-of-itself, but then you get into issues of authorship, for original meaning is stripped from the work that was re-appropriated. At the end of the day, I guess it boils down to how you define the role/function of art in society, and as such the non-institutionalized spaces that contain it. Was there any specific piece that stuck out to you this year? What about it stays in your memory? There was one performative work by an Australian artist at Intelligentsia that I really appreciated. Don't remember his name or the work's title (you should ask them), the viewer was blindfolded then put into a room. Seated onto a chair, the performer turned on a soft music and lit incense. He proceeded to sit on a chair in front of you, taking control of your arms and moving them in awkward ways, adding pressure. Its was a full sensory experience that was a bit out of body, as loosing a sense of sight heightens all others in a very strange but welcoming way. Immediately felt intimate with this artist whom was a stranger just seconds before. Did you notice any emerging trends in the Beijing / Chinese art world this year? Either on a macro commercial level, or on the level of small-scale, DIY, or internet art? Interesting to see the shift of small, independent spaces... With the opening of Black Sesame (IFP), I: Project Space, Intelligentsia, and Aotu in the hutongs and closing of HomeShop... (also bactagon, though we don't have a set space besides The Other Place for our Brainstorms). Crowds are changing, more people are trying to do "experimental projects" perhaps as a result of the accelerating death spiral that is the obsession with consumption of the form. Any other things worth mentioning about the Beijing or Chinese art world in 2014? As I said above, it just feels like it's getting more and more commercial every year. There is more and more object, less and less art that is acting as a true challenge to current ideologies. I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting about... Oh yes, UCCA had the first show that was officially sponsored by a big brand -- currently on, the Red Star Masculine Furniture show about "home". While respected artists are part of the show, it's a bit contrived and safe... Easy to talk about home, but then so is getting a big Chinese brand to pay for a whole show and have their name all over it...

Ophelia Chen (TRIA PRIMA):

Peter Bogers at C-Space was a very solid show. Gabriel Orozco at Faurschou Foundation was one of the best things I'd seen in a long time, but it opened in Sep. 2013 and ran through Apr. 2014. I'd say Yu Honglei at Antenna Space is the best solo show by young Chinese artist this year but it's in Shanghai. Best alternative show / events? Softcore at Intelligentsia Gallery had some interesting pieces, and BYOB was a success in introducing this concept of DIY exhibition making process to China, which I think we'll see more of. What about the worst? There has been plenty of awfulness this year besides the general mediocracy, but We Love Video This Summer at Pace Beijing was a shockingly bad group show in my opinion. I expected more from them. And Blissful As Gods (Xu Zhen / Madein Company solo) at Shangart Shanghai was also grotesque in an un-inspiringly shit way. Any one piece that sticks out in your memory? The Gallery by Wang Xin is a very interesting concept that raises a lot of questions and a fun interactive piece overall. Emerging trends? It seems like curators have been trying to push digital/internet art more this year.

Rania Ho (Arrow Factory):

, UCCA – History on display. Despite all the brouhaha over who was or wasn’t included on the press release, it was a unique opportunity to view works that are often talked about but rarely seen. The artworks' auras all seemed to be fully intact. Gabriel Orozco, Faurschou Foundation – A new perspective on roadside detritus. Haunting, without cliché. What about the best shows in small / alternative spaces? Or standalone events / artist talks? Mansudae North Korean art gallery is about as good as it gets for alternative art. I always leave there holding my head and thinking WTF?!?! The best art should have that effect. Song Ta – The Loveliest Guy, Beijing Commune. More of the artist’s wry dry humor and slow-burn acts of subversion. Men in uniform ride a roller coaster. Zhuang Hui's Solo Exhibition – Platform China. The week-long exhibition was presented as a press conference to announce a solo show installed in the Gobi Desert that no one except the artist and his crew witnessed. All the works were either left behind or blown away. It was an exercise in futility of exponential proportions. Was there any specific piece that stuck out to you this year? What about it stays in your memory? Liang Shuo, The Story Of Beginning – Space Station. Sculpted wet clay transformed Space Station into a swampy illustration of the Nvwa creation myth. Liang Shuo’s craft is undeniable, and his absurd sensibility transformed it into something magical. Li Jinghu, Efficiency Is Life – Magician Space. Classic HK films and the occasional porn flick screened in rotation on a rhinestone studded projection screen. The glittering moving images had a cheap yet honest melancholic glamour. Did you notice any emerging trends in the Beijing / Chinese art scene this year? Many artist-run spaces and new small-scale initiatives opened up in Beijing this year. Perhaps the disintegration of HomeShop was partially responsible as many former HomeShoppers moved on to start their own projects. Renewed interest in the hutong areas for “cultural production” also could be a by-product of the activities in Dashilar during Beijing Design Week. Nevertheless, it’s great to see things happening both in the center of the city as well as out in Heiqiao and Caochangdi.

Michelle Proksell (TRIA PRIMA / BYOB):

My all time favorite show this year was at Qiu Xiaofei at PACE Gallery during the summer (the pictures don't give it justice though). His paintings remind me of the Internet… whether he means them to or not (which I suspect he doesn't). But I remember walking into the show very randomly with a friend and to my surprise I got excited about painting again for about 20 minutes. I'd been introduced to some of his work before, but this show in particular highlighted his maturity as a painter for his generation - the strokes, the compositions, the colors, the textures, the subjects (computers, remnants of rainbows, other worlds, etc) and in particular the size of his works - all of it. I was absorbed in what felt like an online show in real life - each canvas a kind of screen to something I could actually relate and react to on a kind of personal level. What about the best shows in small / alternative spaces? Or standalone events / artist talks? I'm gonna be selfish (because why not) and say that BYOB Beijing and BYOB Shanghai were my favorite alternative shows/experiences. To me, they were true reflections of the global art world we live in and how DIY can extend across countries to create one giant movement, as well as the local diversity of people producing works in China (Foreigners as well as Chinese). These shows were proof that good things can be experienced in alternative ways with a collective process. The audience was engaged and interactive in these shows and the artists were excited to be outside of institutional or commercial spaces to show their work. It's refreshing to see old historical locations in China replace the pristine white of other spaces - it reminds me of all the things I ever read about the Chinese art scene being like in the '80s - which consequently, was an influence on the ways in which both BYOBs were produced. What about the worst? Most things at 798. Was there any specific piece that stuck out to you this year? What about it stays in your memory? I'd say that Ying Miao's iPhone and iPad cases of found online Selfies which were displayed in a mirrored display case during her solo show GIF Island at the V Art Center in Shanghai was my favorite piece all year. Firstly, because it made me laugh - and I'm particularly fond of art that makes me laugh. But also, mostly because I find it particularly insightful of not only a general human public's use of mobile devices and selfies, but especially how that reflects on a contemporary digital Chinese culture. For many Chinese people, the first access to the internet is through a mobile device, not a computer. The composition of these cases with their tacky fake diamond bling adorning the edges of the selfie images, was a nice kitschy reflection on the present day fake-market Chinese aesthetic too, especially found in fashion. These cases also accurately represent both Chinese and Foreigner's day-to-day relationship to how we all now communicate both in the use of mobile devices themselves, but also in the ways that selfies have become a way for people to choose and control how they want to represent themselves online. Did you notice any emerging trends in the Beijing / Chinese art world this year? Either on a macro commercial level, or on the level of small-scale, DIY, or internet art? To embark on the topic of Internet arts in China, I should actually mention the Art Post-Internet show at UCCA curated by Karen Archey and Robin Peckham first. I've known Karen for years and I know this kind of work very intimately, especially since nearly half of the people in the show are artists I know or have worked with personally in the past. From my perspective of the Post-Internet topic, this show was phenomenal…. but I also believe that good exhibitions also need to keep in mind the context of where they are being shown… and unfortunately, I think there may have been all of 10 people in Beijing who understood this show fully without having to read about it first (and I could actually be overestimating this even). It's difficult to introduce the idea of Post-Internet to a culture who in general isn't familiar with Internet Art first, let alone what it means to produce works reflective of our now post-internet culture. And so that brings me to the topic of Internet Art finally… I think this is the year that Internet and Post-Internet art is really coming into a larger consciousness for artists and art lovers in China. Already this year (post the Post-Internet show at UCCA), I've launched my online Net archive project called NETIZENET 网友网, plus "online residencies" seem to be a new attempt at using the Internet to produce works. Basement 6 in Shanghai started a "6-day experimental residency program" online, as well as an artist and curator from Changsha, Weiyi Li's BIG BAD GALLERY online residency blogs called TOTAL ARTWORK OF THE FUTURE SOCIAL ORDER have just been launched this month. Any other things worth mentioning about the Beijing or Chinese art world in 2014? I've seen a lot more self-initiated projects by artists themselves in alternative spaces or experimental formats. And that's especially exciting for the overall future of the art scene here in China. In the past 20+ years, commercial or institutional influences have dominated the contemporary scene, especially in how it's been reflected abroad - but more and more of these artist-initiated events, projects and exhibitions means that the next generation is experimenting with their "voice" right now - that's really important stuff. Luckily, the internet and all its many online social platforms allows for this next generation of artists and their DIY projects to be shared abroad without needing to be defined by the system that surrounds it in real life. Many of the projects I've personally been helping to produce here in China have a lot to do with this idea too… especially considering I truly believe that for the next generation of Chinese artists to really define their individual and generational "voice", they need to learn how to function and experiment outside of institutions and commercial spaces first.

Ed Sanderson (writer, arts consultant, international project manager):

(Note: I was away from China for the first half of 2014, the following mostly reflects what I saw after I returned in July.) Best shows? ‘Hans van Dijk: 5000 Names’ at UCCA, a semi-archival show reviewing van Dijk’s impact as a dealer and collector on the contemporary art scene in China in the ‘90s, and how it seems he really opened up opportunities for a new generation of artists at the time. ‘5000 Names’ was a great example of a well-researched and curated exhibition, filling gaps in the art historical record. What about the best shows in small / alternative spaces? Or standalone events / artist talks? Yang Jiechang’s ‘This is Still Landscape Painting’ at Ink Studio. I love Yang’s accomplished ink paintings, taking his evident skill in this traditional method into very contemporary areas – particularly the calligraphic text works. Although it must be said that in this show Yang also included a series of paintings drawn from works originally by Adolf Hitler. I think Yang did this to demonstrate the claim in the show’s title, but this method seemed a little banal. Ren Bo’s ‘Silent Shine’ at Jiali Gallery deftly showed how her work has matured nicely since her first solo show last year (full disclosure: I wrote the catalogue essay for that). In this appearance a new series of works using lenticular screens, videos, and projections troubled the artist’s portraits of workers and drawings of Taoist hand gestures. And Yu Bogong’s ‘Vodka Project’ (which first appeared at Action Space in Heiqiao, but bottles from which are popping up everywhere these days). The artist set up a still and produced bottles of his own vodka in various flavours that then served as the consistent element in an “ecology” of group events. Perhaps predictably, this showed how alcohol is still a reliable way to engage with your community. What about the worst? If UCCA presented what I thought was the best show of 2014, then it’s a shame that they also produced my ‘worst’. Every year there is at least one show that makes me angry (yes, maybe I care too much), and this year that distinction was held by ‘Fitness for All’ by the artist-group Polit-Sheer-Form (Hong Hao, Leng Lin, Liu Jianhua, Song Dong, Xiao Yu). I was left cold by the works on display – most seemed to be building a cod mythology around their own previous activities, rather than taking on any wider significance. One piece that particularly bothered me was the large-scale projection of a high-resolution, slow-motion video of a group of (apparently) ecstatic people washing a bus (‘Do the Same Good Deed’). The title seems to propose this event as a heroic gesture (let’s make a change by all working together!), yet the video usurped any radicality it may have held by the highly mediated, spectacularisation of the original event. Was there any specific piece that stuck out to you this year? What about it stays in your memory? From Li Ming’s ‘Mediation’ show at Antenna Space in Shanghai I particularly liked the multi-screen video ‘Movements’ which presented multiple takes of the artist traveling along a road by various means – on a skateboard, or the kind of three-wheel truck common in China, or by the hook of a crane. On a very basic level it made me laugh, and I also appreciated his commitment in trying to accomplish this self-imposed task that ended up being quite poetic in its repetition when presented in the gallery.

movements - video 1 / 2014 from Li Ming on Vimeo.

And the garden at the Red Brick Art Museum (which opened in Northern Beijing earlier this year) is stunning! Did you notice any emerging trends in the Beijing / Chinese art world this year? Either on a macro commercial level, or on the level of small-scale, DIY, or internet art? There seems to be a growing set of Chinese artists producing gaudy, post-internet-aesthetic installations. Any other things worth mentioning about the Beijing or Chinese art world in 2014? I very much hope Xi Jinping extends his new ‘back to the countryside’ campaign to include art critics.

Alessandro Rolandi (artist):

I did like the show of Gabriel Orozco in Faurschou Foundation, it was a touching poetic gesture that had un unpretentious connection with China. A perception of it through these carcasses of exploded tires, visually convincing and not indulgent for a super star . It was a powerful installation. And in general I have very good memories of the previous show at Faurschou. Another show that interested me is the recent solo of Shen Shaomin at White Box Museum curated by Cui CanCan; by refusing to present anything physical and choosing to make public the discussion between the artist and the curator and to consider it more meaningful than the "production" of something, this non-exhibition raises questions around the discourse of Contemporary Art, the relationships of power, the roles and the hierarchy between the different figures, curator, artist and museum director and the institutions. It would have been perfect if they had only made photocopies of the conversation in a fully empty space... They still built a display structure, a sort of art-fair prop wall on which the texts were printed. This retained an element of the exhibition-ritual that could have been avoided with the result to make even more radical the curatorial and artistic choice. What about the best shows in small / alternative spaces? Or standalone events / artist talks? I really liked the recent show at Arrow Factory: Time Spent by Li Yueyang. It is a very interesting, unapologetic and original way to address the relationship between art and life, their boundaries and their borders. The artist is a former convicted gangster, who, once out of prison, was encouraged by a fellow artist friend to try and do something with art. This person chose to show his prison bed (something he did carefully and with aesthetic presence) and accepted to be interviewed. From his words we learn that he was a tough, a gangster, who was hired to kidnap and hurt people. Violence and justice, art and life become interconnected in a very complex way and raise doubts and questions about society, systems and human nature. Violence is not seen from the very typical angle (in China) of the artist freedom fighter who is a victim of Governement repression, but instead from the point of view of a common criminal who has been given a chance to tell his story. The bed, the story and the person they all confront us with unresolved issues and powerful contradictions. For me the most interesting show of the year. [Editor's note: read our full interview with Li Yueyang here.] In Jiali Gallery, the charming pingfan that Daphne Mallet transformed in a gallery, the shows of Ma Yongfeng and Ren Bo were also good moments of the year: the sensibility and the measure in the artworks, in the display and in the details, showed that the collaboration between people with experience, content and vision creates quality without needing huge budgets. I also appreciated the exhibition concept of the new-born Intelligentsia Gallery, whose dynamic and energetic conceptual approach gave birth to a series of thematic monthly appointments with good quality international group show mixing young and emerging artists from various countries. Institute For Provocation, directed by Max Gerthel and Bactagon, directed by Zandie Brockett, provided some interesting discussions, presentations and talks. On the Chinese side, Action Space, founded by Qian Long in Heiqiao, was able to create a special momentum in the whole area, sponsoring very well conceived participatory projects such as Cai Dongdong's God and Yu Bogong's Vodka in a very original and dynamic way. The spontaneous energy and the good atmosphere Action Space built in Heiqiao reminded me of my earlier years in Beijing's art scene from 2003 to 2008. Going there made me feel again the echo of that special energy. For sure my favourite place on the Chinese side. Still on the Chinese side, I liked Sayzheng II, the Intervention Project curated by Tianji Zhao who invited several Chinese and Western artists to stage actions and interventions for two days in the Rundeli market. Among other initiatives I want also to mention Concrete Flux, the conceptual magazine designed by Solveig Suess and Tom Baxter, that has brought together creative thinking and writing from various disciplines around intriguing topics. I also enjoyed the always updated program of independent documentary screenings and experimental music and sound art provided by Zajia Lab. A project I found extremely valuable for the cultural development of China at large was the independent film festival and film school conceived by Li Xianting, but after having been sabotaged for a couple of years, in 2014 the program has been shut down completely by the authorities without ever having the opportunity to realize its great potential. What about the worst? The worst is the generalized growing excess of huge art shows with no meaning, no quality and a bold arrogance. Did you notice any emerging trends in the Beijing / Chinese art world this year? Either on a macro commercial level, or on the level of small-scale, DIY, or internet art? I can say that I noticed the growth of small, independent, research-driven spaces run by foreigners in the hutong areas, downtown, that start to become a network of ideas and exchange through the form of Residency, talks, and collaborative projects between local and foreign artists. This has consolidated the foreign presence, giving it a more specific function and somehow defining a "modus operandi." On the other side, the more Chinese artistic community seems to exist and act more on the suburban areas for the independent and experimental projects (Heiqiao and Songzhuan) or within the network of the big galleries system in 798 for the more market-oriented production. So far these two realities are not really connected and, apart from few exceptions, seem to grow parallel to each other. Any other things worth mentioning about the Beijing or Chinese art world in 2014? I feel the Chinese Art scene still seems to feel the need to define itself more by the fact of being "Chinese" than by the fact of being Art. The recent direct intromission of the government (president Xi's speech about art and architecture) on one side and the speculative market-forces on the other one, exercise a growing pressure towards conformity and political correctness, fostering nationalistic attitudes and reducing the spectrum of openness and experimentation. Independent interesting realities exist and work well but they cannot find their way through the mainstream or really having an impact or an influence on education and society.

Anna Eschbach (I: Project Space):

An exhibition I really enjoyed seeing was the Roman Signer exhibition at CAFA museum (Roman Signer. Videos and Films. 1975-1989 and Now). The show managed something that seldom works: Bringing together over 100 films. They used small projectors and turned the whole room in a big film installation. You could stand in the room and observe how the works are interwoven. It became also visible how the aesthetic of Roman Signer gradually changed over the years and is still coming back to some motifs over and over again. It was a brilliant retrospective. What about the best shows in small / alternative spaces? Or stand alone events / artist talks? There are so many interesting spaces that did amazing exhibitions and other events. But something that really stayed with me was the Bibliorium that Bactagon organized during Beijing Design Week. Next to their amazing programming and curating of this presentation, people who are saving and spreading printed matter are heroes in my eyes. What about the worst? There were a few very problematic shows, and the “We Love Video This Summer“ exhibition at Pace Gallery is an example of this. The goal for this show was to concentrate solely on presenting video art and leave behind themes, classifications, or curatorial interferences. A very intriguing idea, but in this case it created a messy compilation lacking a red line and also not raising any questions. I really hope to see more exhibitions in 2015 that try to present thematic work and contribute to an art discussion. Was there any specific piece that stuck out to you this year? What about it stays in your memory? A project that I will continue to follow is “Apartment – Dream Come True”. The two artists Song Xi and Yang Xinjia invited 11 fellow artists to live and work in an apartment for one week. And every week the participating artists managed to come up with amazing artworks. Peter Zhang, for example, filled a whole scroll with sketches about stories, myths, and gossip that are circulating online about the neighborhood of the apartment. Did you notice any emerging trends in the Beijing / Chinese art world this year? Either on a macro commercial level, or on the level of small-scale, DIY, or internet art? One trend or rather increase I could detect with great delight was that more and more people are starting art magazines or fanzines in Beijing and in China. Something that is really precious and hopefully will make an impact on the art practice in the future. Any other things worth mentioning about the Beijing or Chinese art world in 2014? In 2014 a lot of new independent spaces opened their doors. I am so much looking forward to 2015 to see how these spaces develop, form the Beijing art scene and interact with each other in every possible way.

Yi Zhou (artist, Body Memory):

First will be the Los Angeles Project at UCCA. Contemporary art scene in LA is getting more and more active in recent years. This is the first time that artists from LA had a group exhibition in Beijing. Start from the entrance, Alex Israel’s twenty-meter-long mural installation with palm tree and director chair will bring people to Hollywood on the west coast in a second. Another one is Breathe Walk Die by Ugo Rondinone at Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai. The museum has 5 floors and walls, each floor was been carefully painted with 2 or 3 colours melting into each other. This reminded me of James Turell, who uses light to create similar effects for spaces. But the other part of the exhibition: clowns wearing sleeping masks lying or walking in the museum reminds me of Tino Sehgal’s performance. What about the best shows in small / alternative spaces? Or standalone events / artist talks? Ye Funa’s Exhibitionist Nail Project. She took inspiration from everyone who has exhibitionism as part of themselves. Combining that with the concept of curation, she believes that small spaces like the surface of a fingernail could become an exhibition space. People draw something on their nails that could be consider an exhibition. When the nail drawings are done and start being shown to other people, this is the opening of the show. Later, remove the draws from finger means tear down exhibition. Was there any specific piece that stuck out to you this year? What about it stays in your memory? 杨振中《按摩椅:后来,爱迪生的直流电输给了交流电按摩椅》 Massage Chairs: Then Edison’s Direct Current Was Surrendered to the Alternating Current YANG Zhenzhong. This is one pice from MYTH/HISTORY at Yuz Museum Shanghai. The artist peeled off several massage chairs' cotton/leather cover until they show the iron frames. Sometimes, there is only a fine line between comfort and suffering until the truth comes out. Did you notice any emerging trends in the Beijing / Chinese art world this year? Either on a macro commercial level, or on the level of small-scale, DIY, or internet art? More and more young artists have started getting people’s attention. They have totally different subjects and attitudes compared with the last generation's artists. They grew up with internet, comics, pop-culture and so on. Now it is the time to show their own understanding of today’s society and respond in a playful and less formal way. Any other things worth mentioning about the Beijing or Chinese art world in 2014? In the past year, art fairs and private art museums are developing with an incredible speed, especially in China. On one hand, the appearance of private art museums provides another scale of exhibition space apart from gallery and national museums. Plus, some of them have a very professional team and produce a lots of high quality exhibitions due to sufficient financial support. On another hand, because this is a new phenomenon, it seems all the collectors are trying to build their own contemporary art museums. How those museums will work in China without a stable visitor group from the public should be taken into consideration.

Antonie Angerer (I: Project Space):

I really liked the Kader Attia show in Galeria Continua this summer. Kader Attia's installation "The beginning of the World" showed the utopian urge to be modern and break with history. I thought it was a very well curated exhibition and I liked the modern neon lights reflecting in the broken glass cabinets, which already reclaimed modernity as becoming part of history again. What about the best shows in small / alternative spaces? Or standalone events / artist talks? For me the Apartment of Dream Come True project of Songxi and Yang Xinjia was most striking in their passion for art, social problems and connecting young artists. I also really liked the “Chao Bai He” project from the people from On Space in Songzhuang. They did all kinds of projects around the river that divides Beijing and Hebei, and that thousand of people cross everyday to work in Beijing. Both projects are really nice examples of using art in its possibility to address often unnoticed parts of Beijing's contemporary society and urban culture. What about the worst? Video Summer in Pace Gallery. Super badly curated exhibition. Just putting a lot of different videos in one room doesn't make it a good exhibition. Was there any specific piece that stuck out to you this year? What about it stays in your memory? Ryan Trecartin's videos in the Los Angeles Project exhibition at UCCA. I think they are a brilliant comment on today's visual and communication culture. Did you notice any emerging trends in the Beijing / Chinese art world this year? Either on a macro commercial level, or on the level of small-scale, DIY, or internet art? I have the feeling more and more alternative spaces are opening up. This development is great. I am excited to see what it will bring in the future. Any other things worth mentioning about the Beijing or Chinese art world in 2014? This is just the beginning.

Cruz Garcia (Intelligentsia Gallery):

Kader Attia’s installation in Galeria Continua and Gabriel Orozco’s in Faurschou Foundation were both strong and beautiful in their particular ways. Both installations suited well the gallery space as well as the socio-cultural-mediatic-political context of China (in terms of our understanding of it) in 2014. What about the best shows in small / alternative spaces? Or standalone events / artist talks? Softcore at our space was a successful challenge. Comparing even with big established spaces I think we did pretty good for challenging the status quo. What about the worst? I saw a lot of terrible shows this year. I won’t go with the worst ones since I wouldn’t like to recall them or advertise terrible art shows (there’s plenty of it), but I really didn’t like Danh Vo’s show in Faurschou Foundation. I found the idea a bit superficial and literal. Do we really need to see pieces of the Statue of Liberty (so American!!!) to understand that the concept of liberty and freedom is falling? Are we really that simple minded? Was there any specific piece that stuck out to you this year? What about it stays in your memory? Xu Zhen oversaturation of the Market in one single space (UCCA) is pretty symptomatic of the condition of contemporary art in relationship with the market. There were several pieces that struck me: Xie Molin’s machinistic paintings and his capacity to create non-pictorial paintings in China (in contrast to much of the landscape abstraction we usually see), Ren Zhitian’s process-based work in different mediums, Aspartime’s cleverness with their moving images. The list goes on within and outside Beijing. Did you notice any emerging trends in the Beijing art scene this year? Haven’t you noticed? There’s like a full art district in the hutongs now.

Max Gerthel (Institute for Provocation):

Sadly, I didn’t see as many shows this year as I wanted, but out of the ones I saw I would say Yan Xing’s show at Urs Meile gallery was quite impressive. The multitude of expressions and range of subjects on display shows that he is one of the most ambitious young artists of his generation. What about the best shows in small / alternative spaces? Or standalone events / artist talks? Not to try to boast ourselves, but I was personally very happy with the shows we did in Black Sesame during Beijing Design Week, with three Beijing-based artists who did three very different projects; a performance lasting for 8 hours by Liu Chengrui (Guazi), a swing and a room full of grains by Alessandro Rolandi, and an immersive floating seaweed of plastic bags by Han Wuzhou. Unfortunately the design week turned out to be the worst possible time to do this, since everyone was fully occupied with their own events and most of them in Dashilar, Sanlitun, and Caochangdi. But maybe we’ll have a chance to do it another time (for a wider audience). What about the worst? I was not very impressed by Xu Zhen’s massive solo show at UCCA yearly this year. Despite the efforts of being exhaustive, it was just exhausting. Was there any specific piece that stuck out to you this year? What about it stays in your memory? He An’s installation at Magician Space, “It’s Forever Not”, was mesmerising in its weight and complexity. It made me really open my eyes to this artist, and later this year I had the pleasure of hearing talk about his early work in our dual talk with Maurice Bogaert at Today Art Museum. Did you notice any emerging trends in the Beijing / Chinese art world this year? Either on a macro commercial level, or on the level of small-scale, DIY, or internet art? Not sure if I can identify any trend, but there is definitely a sense that the Beijing art scene is still expanding with new galleries, spaces, and institutions. As is Shanghai, which could be a potential threat to Beijing’s unofficial status as the epicentre of the Chinese art world. More emerging artists seem to be based in Shanghai now, which makes it not only a place for consumption but also for production of culture. We’ll see how that evolves... Any other things worth mentioning about the Beijing or Chinese art world in 2014? A lot of good shows and events this year, mainly by the galleries and artist-run spaces. The big institutions (UCCA et al) were disappointing this year, perhaps hitting a low point with the exhibition about Hans van Dijk which really showed how inbred the scene is. Despite the huge effort going into showing the enormous influence of this Dutch Sinologist, curator and collector in the 80’s and 90’s, instead the spotlights turned over to someone who needs no introduction. I hope next year can be better on all fronts.

Solveig Suess (Concrete Flux / BYOB):

CAFA Museum, Roman Signer and "Master, Mould and Copy Room". I never end up going to the CAFA Museum enough but they hold really decent and beautifully executed shows in there. What about shows in small / alternative spaces, standalone events, artist talks? I feel like I’m constantly stimulated after attending artist talks put on by Institute for Provocation. The artists they choose to host engages Beijing in such curious ways. Because of the short period of time, their research seems to be fresh and alert, resulting in their talks taking something what seems to us as really mundane, but put in a different perspective and angle. Was there any specific piece that stuck out to you this year? What about it stays in your memory? Esther Kokmeijer’s work really stuck to me. It was great to just listen to her stories during her artist talks, having her work consisting of mostly documentation of her process and experiences, not fixating on the resulting product or work. I guess I looked at her work as a big inspiration, to naturally meander through research and seeing where it goes, naturally creating things that seem fit which leads to other strings of thought. I also enjoyed Siri Tolander’s talk at IFP- she described her research on how materials used in public spaces influenced the public’s movement and toyed around with the language. Along with Alessandro Rolandi’s ongoing project called Social Sensibilities, this interest in ‘play’ and spontaneity made these works stay on my mind. Esther Kokmeijer's floating car

Sid Gulinck (project coordinator, Institute for Provocation):

The best seems to have been kept for last: Unlived by What is Seen (curated by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu) asks some poignant questions about artists' identity and art as an occupation/way of life, an angle I think remains underexplored in China's contemporary art debate. I like the idea of a "slow" exhibit in which you can keep discovering new things (even if it features very little actual works, if any). In this respect, I think Sun Yuan and Peng Yu really pushed the envelope. Too bad I missed Red Brick Museum's inaugural exhibit Tales from the Taiping Era. One of our artists brought back Qiu Zhijie's catalog, which had beautiful hand-drawn renderings of his installations, presented in the style old Chinese mythological works like the Classic of Mountains and Seas. When rating such big shows I think you need to look at the curators more than the actual artworks. Any show is going to have both good and not so good artworks in it, but sometimes within a curatorial vision both kinds of works can be justifiably featured alongside each other, for the purpose of telling a story. What about the best shows in small / alternative spaces? Or standalone events / artist talks? I like the consistency with which Intelligentsia puts out very sound, theoretically underpinned exhibitions, like Softcore. There's just something about being in such a tiny room, literally stumbling over the artworks. Alessandro Rolandi did a great, playful piece called All of this Happened... More or Less in IFP's Black Sesame space, where grown-ups and kids alike could throw bird feed at each other and take turns on a specially installed swingset. Bring Your Own Beamer was a great initiative that really succeeded in integrating the hutong aesthetic in the site-specific video-artworks and vice-versa. Softcore, Intelligentsia Gallery What about the worst? I'm sure it must've been something really commercial at UCCA. I also really don't/didn't know what to think of the show Post-Internet Art about the self-proclaimed phenomenon of the same name. Also, the CAFA show The Hand: Curating as a Gesture was a good example of overblown curating. Too many works with too many thoughts proposed by too many curators going in too many directions. Was there any specific piece that stuck out to you this year? What about it stays in your memory? Thingworld (the triennial of Media Art at NAMOC) had some really impressive pieces in it. Wang Yuyang's "Finance Department", part of the "Breathing" series, was a really well done piece that explored the way we look at banality in everyday life. He had every object in this utterly inconspicuous room rigged with motion devices so that every object seemed to be pulsating with life. Xu Zhen's "cultural yoga" piece Physique of Consciousness Museum, for which he took religiously and culturally inspired gestures and motions and regrouped them into a kind of anthropologically valid Taiji-tutorial. The whole exhibit was grotesquely entertaining, for that matter. Xu Zhen - "Physique of Consciousness" Did you notice any emerging trends in the Beijing / Chinese art world this year? Either on a macro commercial level, or on the level of small-scale, DIY, or internet art? I don't really believe in internet art as a phenomenon, I suspect it to be a neologism invented solely to spawn a new category of art of younger artists, where there's no need for it. I think we can do without yet another dubious umbrella term. I enjoy seeing independent art-spaces come into life that function below the radar and that do things that are hard to grasp. I: Project Space, Jiali Gallery, Non-Space are just some examples. Another interesting trend is that some Chinese artists in the Heiqiao area are starting to see the importance of language as a force for pushing the arts scene, and taking initiative to learn English. I also particularly relish posters and flyers circulating within the experimental/underground Beijing music scene. VJ'ing is definitely an artistic practice that is undervalued. In that sense, night-clubs can and should become places where art is seen and experienced, like with the works of Kim Laughton in Dada or LEAP bringing video artworks into an LGBT club like Destination. LEAP LAB x Destination: "Conditions" Any other things worth mentioning about the Beijing or Chinese art world in 2014? More cross-fertilization between small, independently run spaces should be encouraged. People should go out of their way to see exhibits and reflect critically on them. More DIY art-related publications that boost the overall state of Chinese art criticism. Art should seep into the pores and the cracks of the city more, instead of being bound to "Disney-fied" enclaves that people go to with their cameras and baby strollers on the weekend. Let art reign in daily life. That being said, I still get impressed sometimes at the huge offer for those who want to have their artistic taste-buds aroused. *** That's a wrap... Didn't make it to Jiali or Aotu this year, keep your eyes peeled for updates on fresh art scene spots at which to crash parties for free booze & cultural capital in 2015!