After one month of secret work, the huge mural we invited Zhan Pan to paint is finally finished! It is a dreamlike underwater world where dreams and reality tease each other. For Zhan Pan, guitarist and lead singer of Gar, it was a wonderful painting experience. And for the audience, it’s an absolutely stunning piece. Now let’s have a look at the mural, with some explanation from Zhan Pan.

I first landed on a topic: Underwater World. Then I made many sketches. In the painting, what I want to show is an unreal world where imagination coexists with reality and the crossover between them overthrowing logic. You can read the whole picture as a dreamland: a slogan projected from the big fish makes the clown-like head lose his mind. A group of jellyfish, which look like mushrooms, are swimming in yellow light around the clown. He wears special swimming goggles and swims ahead, his path crossing a pyramid and a canyon. Discovered by the light of the “Almighty eye”, he gets hit in the face with reality. His blood splashes out of his, but the dream of freedom will not stop, the nosebleed becomes some birds that fly away.

The Work

Ideas come at any moment and that’s why I don’t like to sketch an entire piece first. I hope that the atmosphere and the music can inspire me to create something unique. This way, the work can stand for the combination of the place’s character and my subjective creation.

The wall is too large for me. I’ve never worked on such a huge surface. Positioning is very hard. I always make mistakes and have to revise several times. I used up a very big eraser. Another difficulty is choosing my pens. I am used to painting in permanent marker, I don’t like filling in large areas with paint pens, but the picture is too big so I have to compromise some of the marker brushwork.

Many surprises come when overcoming difficulties. For example, some of my mistakes became pictures connected to the finished piece.

The path from the clown’s eyes twists and turns until it loops back into the hole of the real world air conditioner of the bar, bringing the imaginary and real world together.

What’s more, there are so many interesting details. For example, the broken deer antlers near the clown’s ear and the bubbles from the air tubes. These details enrich the whole space, covering the real world door so that visitors can’t find the entrance.

The Final Piece

The final work is actually stunning. After all, the area of the wall is so large that people can’t find the door. Secondly, I believe drunk people will throw up after seeing the picture, ha ha.
I felt so empty when I finished the work, just like when I handed in the paper for the art school entrance exams. It was a big loss. I don’t know whether there’s a special result waiting for me. But I felt better after a few days.

Tell us about yourself.

I was born in 1982. My father is a soldier and we came to Beijing. I first set my sights on being a football player. I got in touch with rock music when I was in middle school. I also liked design so I applied for art colleges. Then I started to build a band. After graduation I started working in art and kept my hobbies. I’m an idealist.

What’s your schedule now?

The alarm clock wakes me up, I take the subway, work, play guitar, draw, surf the Internet, eat something with my friends, go home, play guitar, read magazines, draw, watch movies, sleep. I have band practice twice a week. I have crazy thoughts all the time.

When did you start loving music and decide to start a band? What has been the most interesting or hardest experience?

I’ve liked music since I was a child but my music teacher broke my confidence. I got in touch with rock music and taught myself guitar in middle school. I had my first band ‘Ne Zha’ close to when I graduated and later started ‘Gar’. The most interesting and also the hardest thing is the clashing of the band members and the collision of our minds, the sparks, the novelty, the excitement, the unknown and the surprises. Then insisting to go beyond myself. Then more surprises and the unknowns come back again.

Zhan Pan in performance

Do you have any suggestions for kids who want to play music?

Just have fun.

What’s your favorite musical style? Is there any musician who inspired you? Why?

I like and I listen to many musical styles. But my favorite is still the music I heard when I was young. I remember the first cracked CDs I got, it seems like I was chosen to hear that music and I was deeply influenced by it.

Your job is an magazine designer, at the same time you draw illustrations and play in a band. How do you describe yourself?

I think I just try to be close to “freedom”, I try to find a balance in my life according to my ability and status.

Zhan Pan’s design for self entertainment – - – Zhan Pan’s graphic design for his band tee

Do you think you express the same things in your illustrations as you do in your music? Do they mean something different for you?

There must be something similar. They both express my mind just in different mediums. I think for me music expresses it more directly because it includes melodies and singing, an expression of lyrics. It also has the interaction from band members, while painting is something more individual.

Previous work by Zhan Pan. He can draw everything no matter how small the space is.

For you, what is creativity?

Discovering essential connections between things and expressing them or showing them in some way.

What inspires you? Any special people or things?

Just life and experience, I think. Some person or thing will impact my life, sometimes maybe only a little thing, so I continuously observe and experience the environment around me. Then I ask, “why?”

How do you feel about the city you live in and the kids here? Anything you especially like or hate?

Because I live in this city, maybe what I see is more of a blur. I feel like there is always some kind of information or ideas that get thrown around and most people will follow them. But I don’t know where it comes from. Beijing is a place that received outside information early. It is a cradle; an inclusive city, it has enough culture and history to nurture everything. But it is also a severe mother, it will punish you if you are out of line or too naughty. I like its mix of old and new, its chaos, I like that it’s full of the unknown and the noisy. The people are what annoy me. But having no people is no good either, what a contradiction!

What is the most impulsive/crazy/abnormal thing you’ve ever done?

I stayed overnight in an old beacon tower in Simatai, the old great wall, with two friends. We heard a lot of strange sounds. We don’t know what they were.

What’s your plan for the future?

I want to experiment with different kinds of rock music, keep practicing basic painting skills, designing, and go skating in Beihai before next spring.

Is there anything you want to do but haven’t started yet?

Build the blocks high and beautiful. Then knock them down before people come to see.

If there is an afterlife, what do you hope to be?

No idea, I want to be a better ME first.

Xiao Tianyu
Girl/ Aka G-fly
Skater/ Fashion Fever/ Shop Owner/ New Designer
Age 22
Little fears and Big ambitions

What’s your story?

I was born in ‘88, now is my last year in FuDan University, I major in Advertising. I started to skateboard in 2004. In 2006, I built my own fashion brand HALF, I am the manager and designer.

What is your everyday routine? What’s your lifestyle?

When I need to go to class, I’m just like any other student. When I don’t have class, I just sleep until noon, then go outside to skateboard. When I come back I deal with my online store.
At night, I hang out with friends or do my design at home.

When did you first become interested in skating? Was it hard? What’s your hobby besides skating?

I first got interested in skateboarding in 2001, there have been countless troubles. The time it takes to learn a new maneuver, the mental suffering when facing barriers, being misunderstood by people around me, and even being arrested by the guards at the Skate Park.
Besides skating, I also like making styles. I am interested in high fashion and street fashion, design, music, indie movies and weird entertainment news, etc.

What’s different about being a female skateboarder? What suggestion would you give to girls who are interested in skateboarding?

Of course there are differences, first is the physiological factor, girls usually have less power than boys for the maneuvers. I suggest that girls who are interested in skating should really think it through, make sure you really love it. You have to pay for it, for example, you can’t have beautiful legs because skating makes one leg thinner than the other. Once you make your decision, don’t be impatient, do everything in its proper time and you will protect yourself from injury.

Who’s your favorite skateboarder?

And the Kenny Anderson in Converse Skate Team is quite famous, I also feel that it could be interesting that Converse could support some skaters who also are musicians.

You also have an online store and your own brand, you sell vintage styles and sportswear. Does this come from skateboarding or are you just interested in fashion and vintage sportswear?

I’ve liked digging in and learning more about street culture ever since I started skateboarding. I love different styles, vintage is what I spend the most time on and I want to share it with other people.

You are still at university and at the same time doing many different things, is it hard? Or are you enjoying in it?

Well, it’s hard but in a happy way. Actually, being a university student doesn’t cause obstacles to what you want to do. Many people think that being a student is a conflict to being a skateboarder, that’s one-sided. University has a casual atmosphere, you should see clearly what you want and just make it come true.

Tell us about the city you live in, and the kids here? Is there anything you like or dislike?

The night-life is colorful here and the kids are polarized, some are extremely funny, some are extremely boring. I like some clubs and malls here but I hate all of the road-work.

What does creativity mean to you?

Do what you like and be the best at it.

What does youth mean to you?

Possibilities, the power of action and hope.

You lead a pretty different life from most people of your generation, how is that for you?

I just think differently from other people. Most people in this society act the same, they act ordinary, so I enjoy this kind of abnormal life.

So how do you live this way?

You must have the power to act, don’t let yourself regret anything when you get old.
How you deal with it when other people don’t understand your life?

I just do what I like in my own way. I don’t care what other people think about it.

5 things you want to do when you’re bored.

Skateboard, read magazines, design, take a nap, watch a movie

5 words to describe what skateboarding brings to you?

Freedom, creativity, power, rebellion, independence

Madi and Xiao Gan, a photographer and a musician. Converse invited them to show you Beijing in their eyes, the good and the bad, likes and dislikes, to give a different look at the city where so many young creative people long to be.

Beijing is a very special city, bad weather, dirty air, so big that you feel tired walking anywhere and there’s always a traffic jam. But we choose to live in BJ because of all the strange, interesting people who also choose to live here. We endure the long tough winters here because BJ always satisfies our curiosity.

Kubrick, cinema, bookstore, or café? (By Madi)

I often went to Hong Kong when I lived in Guangzhou, not for shopping but to walk and feel the energy of the streets. The Kubrick bookstore, next to Yau Ma Tei, started as a cinema, then they began to sell books, then posters, video and audio discs related to film, then local independent publications and crafts. Now they hold cultural events, using the bookstore to help the local creative community.

The Beijing branch of Kubrick opened at the end of last year. I’m curious to see how a store with such deep Hong Kong roots will blend in with Beijing. My friends and I have been hanging out here for a few months and it shares a lot in common with the original store. Whether it’s the free movie screenings, film events, lovely selection of books and foreign magazines, or comfortable reading room, there’s always a good reason to spend an afternoon there.

Lost & Found, not just reminding （By Madi）

After hearing about Lost & Found many times from different friends, I decided to have a look. At first glance, it seems such a delicate place for such a big and rough city. After getting to know it well, I found that it’s not as easy as it looks to make this kind of place. L&F was created by the owner, piece by piece. In addition to selling old furniture, simple clothing and all kinds of housewares, they also sell publications from local creators. L&F is not in it for big money, they choose to sell what fits the feeling of the store and like introducing customers to interesting things.

42 GUOZIJIAN, where L&F lives, used to be a humble shop selling stuffed buns and chicken wings. The store owner can’t even explain how much trouble it was to rebuild the “Hu Tong” when they started the business. She wanted to keep the feeling of the old house, but it’s a dilapidated building, so they had to put a lot of work to finally make this beautiful storefront come to be.

The designer for L&F, Paul, is an American who studied stenography at Yale. He wants their products to have a pure and semi-traditional Beijing fee;, simple, low-key, pure and durable. When L&F began designing furniture, they took their inspiration from the old furniture at the antique market. They looked at the designs and optimized them. The names of the furniture come from old places: Dan Wei chair, old BJ chair, SH steel pipe chair, etc. The store owner said, it’s not just retro or following some trend. L&F wants to find some traditional elements worthy to pass on, like the simple, optimistic attitude toward craft.

The Kunyu River by Xiao Gan

In my eyes, Kunyu River refers to the area from Bali Village Bridge to Zizhu Bridge. It’s the only way you can get from Gu-Lou East Street and Xin Jie Kou to my home. I feel extraordinarily calm when I cross this river. Especially at night, the darkness and the light mix on the water that has washed away so many tragic stories. Every time I drive past here, I can’t help but checking to see if there is anything in the backseat. I’m not joking, I look every time. I haven’t done anything guilty, but we can’t anger the ghosts!

It’s pleasing to walk here in daytime, so I move as slowly as I can. Especially in summer, the quiet river and the willows are so beautiful. If I ever compose a love song for Beijing, this place will be my first choice. Welcome to Bali Village Bridge, but take notice: no fishing!

East drum-tower street (By Xiao Gan)

It’s easy to get a parking ticket here, but I have to come, because I live at least half my life here at the practice room at Hutong 6. There are two trees in the field. One is a date tree and the other one is a date tree too. Almost every song by THE BIGGER BANG was written here. The small field is filled with joy and beer bottles; I feel sorry that we’ve thrown so many cigarettes into the drain.

The landmark here is MAO, nearly half of THE BIGGER BANG’s performances have been there. There is no need to mention how important MAO is to everyone. South LUOGUO street is close but I have never been. Gu-Lou East street is neither old nor new. There are so many fashion stores on Gu-Lou East street but I have no interest in clothing. There are also many restaurants, none of which are very good, but I still eat there.

(Madi)
For me, even though I haven’t lived in Beijing too long, I spend most of my time around Gu-Lou. I want to avoid recommending it, but there is always something to eat and something to find in the vintage stores there. In the words of XIAOGAN, maybe we don’t love Gu-Lou East but we spend most of our time there. It’ a miniature BJ.

Short trip out to the 5th ring road in BJ (By Madi)

It’s an obscure recommendation. Because of my work, I always need to find new places for taking photos. I don’t like high-rises or shooting colourful models in Hutongs. The feeling BJ gives me is infinitely large and boundless, especially in winter. The cold and clear grey is what impresses me. When driving out of the 5th ring road, it doesn’t matter which direction you go, just go with the flow and you can always find a free space. I can feel myself get wild on the road. Suddenly an airplane flying by makes you realize that you are still in BJ, where people love and hate.

Ulises Zarazua Munoz is a composer. His music bears a worldly, inspired feel that brings the edge of Rock & Roll to traditional Mexican song. The son of Mexican parents born in Maryland, Ulises, himself, spent his childhood in the states, but currently lives in Coacalco, Mexico. During his time in the states, Ulises picked up the English language and sees it as a beneficial to his music, allowing his lyrics to be original, clever and without boundaries. Musically multi-talented and influenced by the likes of a variety of artists from all over the world, Ulises music reflects the intersection of cultures he has known.

Growing up in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Talita is inspired by her environments and finds her ideas in the things she encounters there: situations, people, nature, behavior. “My ideas come from the things I see and keep with me,” Talita explains. And although she draws at home most of the time, she always carries a sketchbook when she travels. Learning to paint when she was only a child, Talita now works primarily in acrylic on large canvasses. Her creations depict magical worlds populated by colorful and creatively abstract characters. “I design to transmit the universe I have created,” says Talita.

Hiruma’s story is unique. Born in Japan, he has been pursuing age-old Italian craftsmanship in Florence, Italy for nearly a decade. Choosing to immerse himself in the historical home where Renaissance and industrial design have converged for centuries, Hiruma’s unique and modern sensibility blends with his unmistakable skill and artistry, which he applied to the creation of a limited edition collection for Converse in Spring 10.
Creating coveted versions of Converse’s most recognizable styles, Hiruma has replicated the silhouette of the Chuck Taylor All Star, Jack Purcell and One Star shoes using old-world construction techniques to create a limited line of hand crafted, artesian interpretations of the four different shoe styles. Each shoe features beautiful, supple leathers and a design that echoes finely made dress shoes, yet with ink printed logos and trademark detail that give them a playful, comfortable feeling. Hiruma regards his craft as an expression of artistry, and his collection with Converse are true works of art. ]]> http://blog.converse.com.sg/2010/05/18/sak/feed/ 0 http://blog.converse.com.sg/2010/05/18/okok/ http://blog.converse.com.sg/2010/05/18/okok/#comments Tue, 18 May 2010 05:23:47 +0000 Converse (SG) http://blog.converse.com.sg/?p=341

Sarah & Nadine are a young DJ-team from Berlin who search for music to make you dance different. In their beautiful sets between romantic and clubhit there’s always some space for samples from 80s-tv-themes, Italo and Cosmic disco, beloved synth-sounds and featuring the likes of young producers from all over the world who are united by one sound: Future Disco.

Luam puts inspiration to motion. Based in New York, Luam creates through a process of trial and error. She knows when she gets it right and believes that this understanding is contagious, inspiring those she teaches. “I know I’ve hit the perfect movement when we start laughing,” Luam explains. Through her work with artists all over the world, Luam is quickly becoming known as one of the most creative, emerging artists in dance and movement. “I pull them in with me to work through the movement,” she says. And the results are proof of her talent, determination and dedication.

Laura is a youthful, avant-garde fashion designer from Barcelona.
Her first collection, inspired by the video-art of Lucifer Rising of Kenneth Angers, “breathes a magical environment full of symbols [like] mythological gods and places,” Laura explains. This collection has two faces–the defined side works in leather and is characterized by full sleeves, and the other side is more subtle and vaporous through the use of silk.