Dalian Street Art
Trip Start
Aug 01, 2007
1
19
24
Trip End
Jul 05, 2008
Dalian,
China
Saturday, April 26, 2008
There are several monumental pieces in Dalian, probably a dozen or more larger than, say, 20 feet high. The City was designed by Russians in 1904 with the help of French architects who laid out a European scheme of interconnecting public spaces. Today Dalian has about 70 squares resulting from the geometry of the initial plan, which continues to be expanded as the city grows. These squares beg for public amenities and the response has been varied and, in some cases, extraordinary
Sea Creatures
. 3 of my favorites are a ship replica, an obelisk, and an animated sphere.In Gangwan (harbor) Square, there is a one quarter scale replica of a Chinese junk, one of admiral Zheng He¡¯s renowned ships that sailed around the world in 1421. You would not guess that it is a scale model. China mastered longitude in the early 15th century as the Ming dynasty proceeded to take on global commerce. China conducted vigorous trade with India, Africa, Japan and Indonesia at this time, supporting the world¡¯s largest and most advanced fleet, ships that could carry more than 2000 tons of cargo. Venice was in 2nd place with ships that could carry 50 tons. The real version of the Gangwan model was 480 feet long, 180 feet wide with sails of red silk. At it¡¯s finest hour, when the ship was employed to return some of the 26,000 foreign diplomats who attended the inauguration of the Forbidden City in Beijing in February 1421, it sailed with a fleet of 100 other ships and crews of about 30,000 sailors, accompanied by another few hundred private commercial ships making hay under the umbrella of the flotilla. This was one of 5 of emperor Zhu Di¡¯s fleets. By comparison, when England went to war with France in June of that year, Henry V was able to float 4 fishing boats capable of carrying 100 men across the English channel at a time, but they only sailed during daylight hours. Admiral Zheng He¡¯s ship, under the command of navigator Zhou Man, sailed to India and Africa dropping off his diplomatic cargo, then continued on a global mission of exploration
Sculpture blown down
. Around the South African Cape to South American, through the future Straits of Magellan (100 years earlier than their namesake), up the coast to North America, perhaps as far North as Vancouver, then across the Pacific, arriving back home by October 1423.Dalian¡¯s Xinghai Square is the largest public square in Asia (twice the size of Tiananmen). Along with many lively smaller sculptures, the centerpiece is a white marble column called a Huabiao (»ª±í, a decorative column symbolizing China), 19.97 meters high and 1.997 meters in diameter, the largest of its kind in China. The base of the column is carved with 8 dragons, and the top with another, representing Chinese lineage. The dimensions commemorate the year 1997 when Hong Kong returned to China, the occasion for which Xinghai Square was converted from a garbage dump to a park, which carries its own bit of symbolism. 1999, Dalian's 100th anniversary, is also highlighted in the dimensions ¨C the plaza is a star proportioned with an inner circle of 199.9 meters, The outer circle is 239.9 meters, ready for Dalian¡¯s 500th birthday.
In Youhao square, one of Dalian¡¯s original public spaces near the center of downtown, the City installed a miniature Epcot sphere. It is visible from 6 directions, a landmark for orientation in the downtown as well as a pleasant surprise in the evening when the sphere comes to life. The ball represents the city as"China's Northern Pearl", mounted on five colored supports in the form of "hands", representing the five continents
Sea Cucumber Sculpture
. I was taught to understand that there were 7 continents, but I rather like the Chinese version where Australia and Greenland are relegated to the island and frozen somewhere that they really are. In Chinese, "youhao" means "friendship". The square was built during the Russia occupation, changed its name to "West Plaza" under the Japanese. Youhao was inaugurated in 1996 to commemorate the friendship between PRC and the Soviet Union.Of the many other public displays are marble, bronze and stucco figurative statues, many with sea themes, Buddhist images, dragons, Chinese icons, and all versions of advertising, mostly tasteless, shameless and shallow. The city's 100 year history of Chinese allegiance and foreign occupation has left an interesting architectural legacy as a backdrop for the street art. There are many signs of the Russian design for Dalian, elegant, elaborate and sublime, compared to the Japanese legacy which is rather brutal. The odd thing is that they are both treated the same, with little favor shown for one over the other. The Japanese apartments are severe, but popular, and the Russian refinements are often neglected in favor of tomorrow¡¯s commerce. For the most part, the only influence the architecture has is that the buildings seem to be a good place to hang advertising. Almost all the respectable street art is associated with construction not older than 20 years ¨C either the piece itself as with the Youhao Sphere, or as part of a new apartment or office building
Temporary Installation for Wedding
. China has great regard and pride for its history, but being part of the global 21st century is every bit as important.Of course, of all the public art, the live street action is the most entertaining. Vendors hawking everything from oysters to Ming china, kids parlaying their latest American outfit, suits as serious as any Wall Street deal maker. Musicians, mimes, jugglers, singers, acrobats, even a guy with a blackboard teaching geometry. One of my favorite street performances is the no hankie nose blow where the person is able to expunge nasal debris without benefit of an intermediate device. These guys are good. Even the women. The Chinese don¡¯t appreciate handkerchiefs, scoff at the thought of saving your "head phlegm" in your pocket. I saw a guy blow his nose into a sidewall garbage container the other day, and didn't waste a drop. I mean he expelled the wad in a package and at a rate that hit the target of a round hole in the wall. Like Michael Jordan. Since crowds are everywhere and there is often no place for refuge, you tend to be defensive on the sidewalk in case your forward neighbor decides its time to unload. Like a heavy neutrino, it could be a significant mass.
