Overview

Upon relocating to Beijing, photographer Lukas Birk attempts to escape the sense of stagnation that plagued him in his central European home. He encounters a group of like-minded young creatives who share his sentiment of 'nostalgia teetering on the edge of melancholy.' Hoping to express that feeling, Birk discovers his father's collection of expired Polaroid film. With Birk's medium acting as a metaphor for the transformation of modern China - its rapid development and the void of nostalgia left behind - this book presents a sense of something from the past interrupted by modern motives, a collision of old and new world visions. In her insightful foreword, art advisor Katherine Don details Birk's contribution to contemporary art in China and comments on his pioneering innovation. Birk's stunning collection of inventive imagery captures the vibrancy of contemporary life, inspired by the filter of his own nostalgia and longing.

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9780988174566

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The images all...reflect a sense of nostalgia in a rapidly changing country that is undergoing mind-numbing social and economic transformation.--Reza Akhlaghi Foreign Policy Association, April 12, 2014

Author Information

Lukas Birk is an Austrian-born multimedia artist, explorer, and organiser. In 2007, Birk established a base in Beijing, where he co-founded the Austro Sino Arts Program - an artist-run, proactive nonprofit organisation promoting Austrian art and teaching multimedia work in China. His first major publication, 'Kafkanistan' ISBN: 9780985169626, documents tourism in conflict zones with a focus on the misrepresentation of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. An experienced traveller, Birk has showcased his work on three continents and currently lives in China, Indonesia, and Berlin, though he travels at least 4 months per year. Katherine Don is an art advisor specialising in contemporary art in China. Don has collaborated with various contemporary New York-based artists and arts-related organisations, including Paul Kasmin Gallery, Art In General, and The New Yorker Magazine. Don is a regular columnist on industry trends, with published articles featured in Art in America, Art Asia Pacific, and the Yishu Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art. She is the director and founding member of Red Box Studio, a design studio providing a unique combination of graphic design and art advisory services that promote contemporary art in China.

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