Fun Snap Shots around Shanghai

One of my favorite things to do when visiting a city is to wander aimlessly with my camera. I hope you enjoy the results.

M50 Artist Community in Shanghai

M50 was my favorite thing I did in Shanghai. It took me a couple of attempts to find the place. Its near a train station and silly me, I assumed there was only one train station in Shanghai. I was going to the wrong train station. Once I figured that out, it wasn't hard to find the place. It's basically a group of artists living and working in a small community. There are so many contemporary galleries to wander through. and random intriguing objects are laying around too. It's a nice way to spend an afternoon. They even have a little cafe where you can rest and grab a bite. It was delightful. (see pictured below)

This is a small crop of a huge root system of a tree that has some carving in it. Rad.

I found these roses left on a trash can and can help but to wonder about their history.

I ordered the red pepper curry thinking it would be a red bell pepper. Haha, I was so wrong. It was full of spicy chilies.

Pretty Dreary

Note: the title has nothing to do with the China Design Now exhibit. Scroll down for the dreary part...


Part of my new years resolution was to see 1 art show or museum every month. This month we went to the China Design Now exhibit at the Portland Art Muesumn. It was a really cool exhibit showing the graphic design, architecture, pop culture, and so much more happening in China. It was interseting to see how traditional elements were reinvented into something more modern. For instance, I noticed modern executions of calligraphy elements on several of the poster designs. I also enjoyed the typography on the entrance to the exhibit. The red film on the windows leading into the exhibit was a nice way to set the tone of the entire space.

It was also facinated by the creativity and bold gestures in the arcitecture category. I don't mean this in a bad way, but alot of the projects look like design school projects because they are high concept and seem to have no constraints. I am slightly jelous of the designers and the amount of expression that is allowed like in the Digital Beijing Building that looks like a circuit board. Or the building with the hexagon pattern windows which was one of my personal favorites.

On a different note...

When we were leaving the museum the fog was thick around the tops of the buildings. I love the simplicity of this photograph. The fog makes some lovely negative space so that the graphic stripes on the building become the focus. There is always something beautiful going on when you take time to look.