Temporary Space An Experiment by Wang Wei

In early July, artist Wang Wei will open a new "space" in the Dashanzi art area. And no matter how hip you are, you can't go in. His brick box, four meters tall and a hundred meters square, will have no doors or windows.

Its opening on Saturday July 12 will be just another point on a continuum that runs from the moment the first horse-drawn cartload of bricks arrives on July 01 until the last is carried away July 20. On July 12, Wang Wei's space will be at its most complete, transforming and temporarily destroying the 25000 Cultural Transmission Center "space" in which it sits, obliterating its open layout, turning its massive floor into a series of narrow passageways. A few days later, his space creation will be demolished by sledgehammer, its bricks sold back to the same workers who delivered them. That's all.

Like the tenants of Dashanzi, these 20,000 bricks-collected from demolished hutongs by peasant laborers Wang Wei met last summer while shooting a photoessay in his day-job capacity as photographer for the Beijing Youth Daily-are on their way from the city to its outskirts. And like the Dashanzi area in which it is situated, Wang Wei's space will be built up, knowing full well that sooner or later, it will be torn down. Two weeks or two years, spaces in these parts are all temporary.

In addition to the space itself, photographer Wang Wei will exhibit day-by-day process photographs documenting its construction and foreshadowing its destruction. He will present also the textual traces of its creation, including everything from his earliest sketches to the scribbled receipts that mark the bricks' delivery.

The 25000 Cultural Transmission Center is a space in the Dashanzi area, growing out of the Long March project and dedicated to curatorial and artistic experimentation. Temporary Space is its fourth exhibition. Curator Philip Tinari is the Center's Deputy Artistic Director.

Opening: Saturday, July 12, 2003, 15:00
Exhibition: July 1-July 20, 2003 14:00-18:00
Address: 25000 Cultural Transmission Center, 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang, Beijing
Mailing Address: Beijing P.O. Box #554
Postal Code: 100015
Phone/Fax: +86 (10) 6438.7107
E-mail: longmarch2003@vip.sina.com
Website: www.longmarchfoundation.org

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