Ever since I first stepped foot into China, I started getting questions if I know person X or person Y. Phil Tinari is by far one of the most connected and smart people I know in China. He bridges the gap between art and criticism, English and Chinese, and has perceptively been launching career nukes for years. He is a true Fabricator.

Polit-Sheer-Form Office, "Only One Wall," 2005. (from an art review from Phil's blog)

I first met Phil through friend Robin Peckham. Scenarios collided because Phil needed our skillz to crank out a simple site for his blogging activities. He didn't want anything flashy, so people could focus on his writing and projects.

Cover, LEAP 1, February 2010. Shown: Huang Yong Ping, Sand Bank/Bank of Sand, 2000.

Since, we have helped Phil on some unreleased projects and with Modern Media on launching Leap Magazine, the first real critical art magazine from China. This is a major project that he took from idea, to complete execution. Now you can find it all throughout China and the world.

And, more recently, Phil has been brought on as the director of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing. This has been announced in major press as an excellent strategic move by Tinari and UCCA.

Tinari is a heavy hitter. We look forward to more projects in the future with Mr. Tinari. Follow him on his twitter and blog.

For both Chinese and English speakers, check out the smart work of Cantocore artist, Guy Overfelt.

Guy Overfelt is a San Francisco-based an artist whose work has been exhibited internationally. With humor and a mystic hammering, Overfelt furthers the conceptual art movement by mediating the influence of contemporaneous sociopolitical, cultural and economic conditions embodied by his 1977 “Smokey and the Bandit” Trans-AM muscle car. Overfelt plays with laughable notions of American-ness. Through a convergence of artistic practices, Overfelt re-imagines by-products of desire. He modifies his iconic Hollywood styled, Detroit-powered ideas to create mono-prints, peel-out paintings and a life-sized inflatable Trans-AM. His high performance actions shift cultural objects from the familiar to a more obscure metaphoric output.

Guy Overfelt是一名美国旧金山艺术家，作品多次在国际上展出。他以幽默和神秘的方式，通过调停社会政治、文化和经济的同构性影响，深化观念艺术。这一理念包涵在他1977年创作的肌肉车Smokey和Bandit Trans AM。Overflet以可笑的美国主义式见解，通过聚合的艺术实践，重新想像欲望的副产品。他改变好莱坞式的明星风格，用底特律的方式创作单色版画、原地烧胎绘画和实物尺寸的充气跑车。他高强度的行为作品把文化物品从熟悉转变为含糊和富于寓意。
Project

Untitled (Up in Smoke), inflatable nylon installation, 2008

Guy Overfelt furthers his obsession with American muscle cars. This time the inflatable Smoke is fabricated in Guangzhou, factory direct. Beyond Paul McCarthy-like reductive shapes coming off the assembly line or the Chinese Olympic team leaving the others’ in the dust, the simple shape raises questions about what these factories are pumping out in Guangzhou.

无题 (烟雾中)，充气尼龙装置，2008

Guy Overfelt进一步推进他对美国肌肉车的狂热，这次Overfelt在广州本地工厂制作了可充气的汽车烟雾。除了无数像Paul McCarthy式的从生产线来的复制形状和中国奥运队给其他国家运动员留下的一骑绝尘，这个简单的雕塑形式向我们提出的问题是这些工厂在广州的空气中排放了什么。

From my website, I just posted about:

Guy just sent me the brilliant video documenting the installation of his "Untitled (Up in Smoke)" which Fabricatorz facilitated in getting fabricated. Click the image above or follow the link to see the video.

Don't forget tomorrow, Sat, Feb 28 from 4-6 PM is the Cantocore FOB Artists Talk at Mission 17. Come discuss the project with Guy, JD Beltran, David Johnson, Kathrine Worel, Justin Hoover, and myself.