Great Art + Strange Coincidences = Pretty Cool.

Strange Coincidence #1

Pavel Büchler, Eclipse, installation source

• I liked a picture of Pavel Büchler’s “Eclipse” installation at Max Wigram Gallery, and as I blogged about it a few weeks ago.
• I found a book edited by Büchler, in Islington Mill‘s new library last week. Sally Lai, Chinese Arts Centre‘s awesome new CEO, told me that Büchler’s a local professor .
• In fact, I’d been attending Büchler’s Tuesday Talks at the Whitworth Gallery for the past few weeks. I remember him because he kept the level of discourse very high.
• I emailed him and he offered to meet up with me just before he leaves town for several weeks! It turns out we have a mutual interest in hand-drawing historical scripts.


Pavel Büchler, Amerika (after Franz Kafka), (2003), Sketch for a lettering made of two-way silver reflective foil on the front windows of the Metropole Galleries, a former seaside hotel in Folkestone. source

• Büchler’s “Amerika (after Franz Kafka)” (2003) says “Everyone is Welcome,” suggesting a critical perspective on America’s anti-terrorism efforts after 9/11. But the original text probably refers to openness of which Fareed Zakaria would approve in the Post-American World.

Strange Coincidence #2

Simon & Tom Bloor’s “As long as it lasts” exhibition at Eastside Projects, Birmhingham, UK. source

I came across images of “As long as it lasts”, a new exhibition by Simon & Tom Bloor at the Eastside Projects. It is an installation incorporating potted plants, birch trees, and text art. Yes!

• One of the first things I did upon arriving for the Breathe Residency is buy a potted plant with the idea of incorporating it into an installation.


Christine Wong Yap, work in progress, 2009, light, potted plant. dim. var.*

• The Bloor brothers’ past work includes really great text-based flyers. I’ve also been drawing little signs lately.


Christine Wong Yap, Work in progress, 2009, paper cut, vellum, light, 33.25 x 23.325 inches.*



Christine Wong Yap, untitled pair of drawings, ink on paper 7.625 x 11.5 inches each*



Christine Wong Yap,Expectations Occasionally Surpassed, Ink on poster board, 25 x 20 inches*



Christine Wong Yap, Dime Store Advice, china marker on foil-laminated cardstock, 11.75 x 16.5 inches*

• The Bloor brothers are also exhibiting billboards in Leicester, and one of the other billboard artists is April Gertler, who I went to school with in Oakland, CA in the late 1990s.

*Produced in the Breathe Residency at Chinese Arts Centre.