Art to go

• Source: Global Times
• [11:19 July 15 2010]
• Comments

The containers host the Shanghai-based Shift Collective's first exhibition.

By Jonathan DeHart

Tucked away on a terrace in the trendy Cool Docks development south of the Bund sit two ship-ping containers with a twist.

A larger container with windows running down one side of its length forms the base for a smaller one emblazoned with "SHIFT," marking the Shanghai-based Shift Collective, a group of 46 Shanghai local young artists who are redefining what it means to throw an art exhibition.

Paintings, photographs and drawings dot the walls of the comfortably outfitted shipping containers, where guests file in to check out what the artists have in mind.

The Shift Collective's first exhibition, taking place until July 20, is an experimental dis-play featuring rough sketches of the group members' unrealized artistic dreams.

"Our goal is to interest people in our potential projects," Lu Pingyuan, a 26-year-old member of Shift, told the Global Times. "If we can do that, then hopefully some of us will be given access to the resources we need to make our dreams a reality."

Alongside the works on show, each day one Shift member on site will create an original work of art, such as Lu's installation, a jungle of colored tape that engulfed half of the upper container on Sunday.

"Each day a different artist will do something totally fresh," he said. "This will shake things up a bit."

But the unique space and daily changing performances are not the only aspects of this show intended to jolt expectations. Shift's first showing will not stay at the Cool Docks, or anywhere, for long. This container is ready to hit the road.

Grass-roots approach

The concept of holding an art exhibition in a container first occurred to some of the members of Shift who were looking for a way to share their ideas in a novel way.

"When a few members of Shift said they could get a container, we jumped at it," Lu said. "I think that holding an art show in a shipping container fits the free, unfixed lifestyle of many young artists."

Containers secured, Shift set out to find a place where they could carry out their creative experiment. As it turned out, the Cool Docks was the ideal spot to share their work.

"It's a win-win event for both the Cool Docks and Shift," exhibition organizer Zheng Weiming said. "They need activities to attract guests to the venue and Shift needs a place to show their works."

Apart from the artists sharing the costs to transport and set up the containers, no money has exchanged hands. And the Cool Docks provides electricity and air conditioning for free.