Meet our Grantees - Sanlun Yishu

We have just heard from another of our 2008 grant recipients, Sanlun Yishu, by artists Lee Somers and Elisabeth Pellathy in Beijing, China.

The original description of the project:

三san (three) 轮lun (wheel) 车che (vehicle) – a versatile, cheap and compact tricycle made from modified motorcycles or bicycles.

Small yet mighty, the workhorse of Beijing moves everything from lumber to passengers. Often employed as a low-budget local taxi.

三san (three) 轮lun (wheel) 艺术yishu (art) – a mobile gallery, a custom-made Sanlun che housing an exhibition of print, drawing, sound, and video selected specifically for this context.

The primary function is to facilitate personal interaction with art for an audience outside the scope of the traditional gallery. Shifting art viewing from a passive to active interface with the community, Sanlun Yishu overlays an art-experience with daily transportation. Artists from around the globe will create works themed on urban life for the mobile gallery.

Passengers will become participants, asked to reflect on their identity in our urban world. Instead of paying a fare, participants take a work of art with them and make a creative contribution of their own. This transaction is the basis of a conversation between artists and passengers, examining urban life from multiple perspectives, forging unlikely connections across the globe.

And we recenlty heard from Elisabeth and Lee:

Please find attached somerecent pics of the project out on the streets. We have been keeping busy with this project! The pictures show Lee out driving it - which he does sometimes. It gathers a lot of interest because we wrote"mian fei cheng zuo" or "free to ride" on the window.

This is the first point of interest for many people - so far it seems well recieved and the feedback box inside is filling....Talk more soon.

Best regards,
Elisabeth and Lee

We look forward to more updates from the Sanlun Yishu mobile interactive installation which is creating "three wheeled art" in Beijing.

March 3, 2009: You will notice a comment below from artist Pete Nawara. The painting Woman with a Pearl Necklace
( http://www.petenawara.com/woman-with-a-pearl-necklace/ ) is on the side of Sanlun Yishu. Pete, we are thrilled to hear from you and your work is beautiful!
http://www.petenawara.com/