Author Archives: An Xiao

January Month in Review!

Posted on February 2, 2012 by An Xiao

Marvin helps me out at the coworking jelly run by CC:me, a freelance collective based in Atwater Village. Marvin and I participated in this year’s worldwide #jellyweek. As the year of the dragon begins, I thought it would be a good practice to write a monthly review of what I’ve been up to, the articles [...]

Not Two: Stillness and Digital Life at a Korean Monastery

Posted on January 11, 2012 by An Xiao

Pico Iyer has a lovely article out in the latest New York Times focusing on "The Joy of Quiet". It’s a great read and has a few lovely gems: In barely one generation we’ve moved from exulting in the time-saving devices that have so expanded our lives to trying to get away from them — [...]

Expanding the Definition of Avatar: Artists, Avatars and Self-Portraiture

Posted on October 29, 2011 by An Xiao

Artists and avatars. I’m always very conscious about the way I use my avatar, the message it sends to the world. Some call it branding, some call it self-expression, some call it communication. But my avatar represents me in some fashion. Kyle Chayka in LA Weekly wrote a thought-provoking essay about artists and their online [...]

Why I Love ArtsTech, or, the World Needs More Villages

Posted on October 25, 2011 by An Xiao

There’s a very nice piece out in this past Sunday’s New York Times about the Arts, Culture and Technology Meetup (aka ArtsTech). Here’s what writer Jennifer Preston had to say: Unlike some people who never step outside of their online Twitter streams, members of this group use the micro-blogging service to help them follow each [...]

Talking about social media art in China

Posted on October 20, 2011 by An Xiao

Two social media-related events these past few weeks in Beijing. I’ve spoken about social media art and done social media art in a few countries now, but China always presents the most potent site for exploration. I gave a talk at the Maker’s Carnival, a festival of making in partnership with UNESCO, Qinghua University, Shanghai [...]

Exhibition Design: Physical Work, Intellectual Work

Posted on September 19, 2011 by An Xiao

A friend commented recently that I look a little healthier, a little more in physical shape. While in Korea, I did do a lot of hiking. I climbed up to Sanghwangbong at the top of Mt. Gayasan, near Daegu, which is 1430m up, and then up to Guksabong at the top of Cheonggyesan in Seoul, [...]

Harvest Celebrations and Back in Beijing

Posted on September 12, 2011 by An Xiao

Back in Beijing after nearly a month in Korea. Left Seoul just as they began celebrating Chuseok, which friends translated as “Korean Thanksgiving.” And then I arrived in Beijing for Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhongqiu Jie: 中秋节), where we drank, sang songs and ate mooncakes. It’s interesting to think about the many harvest-themed festivals in the industrialized [...]

Greetings from Gwangju, Korea

Posted on August 19, 2011 by An Xiao

Despite being only about 1000 kilometers (~600 miles) by the way the crow flies, the journey from Beijing, China to Gwangju, Korea requires nearly a 12 hour odyssey. Early wake-up in Beijing, cab ride in the morning sun to Beijing Capital International Airport, land in Seoul Gimpo International Airport (lovely, by the way–much faster and [...]