Magazine Haul: Swiss collection

It turns out that magazines and books in China are incredibly cheap by our standards...where our Elle costs £10 for a special edition, in China it costs an equivalent £2-3. Insane I know...

So it began with just one or two... I thought I'd buy some essentials, look at the pictures and editorials, seeing as I can't read them... And then. It ended up become more like 10 different magazines.

BUT they make awesome research material, and you can never have too few pretty things to look at.

Having documented all the pages I like, it turns out there's something ridiculous like 60 photos. So it's not sensible to put them in one big fat blogpost....and so I'll have to just keep the suspense, and show you them bit by bit... at least that'll be some good blog material right?

I'll make it helpful and section them off into categories. First up! These are actually not Chinese magazines, but some I picked up at Zurich airport. They of course had these delicious magazines hanging around to take for free (?!!), so I obliged.

The great thing about the Swiss, is that they know how to make a magazine look damn good. They ooze taste and expense, and just clean, minimal beauty. Like a slice of lemon. 

China Sketchbook.

FRIENDS pt 2. : Maria

District 798.

It might sound like a secret government area, but don't worry, it's just the famed Art District in Beijing. I instantly fell it love. It's very much world's away from the way it looks in central Beijing and its wonderful. I didn't get to see half as much as I wanted, and it's the whole reason why I need to go back to this place. What was infuriating was that I'd JUST missed the Art Expo, annoying, but in hindsight, it would have been like suicide going with my parents...

A little lost, this little gallery was our first stop. I have no idea what this translates to, but yeah, that's the name of the gallery. The exhibition was of an artist called Zhu Bingren, who I suppose is an experimental metalsmith, featuring sculptures from the last few decades. The mural outside the building is by him too.

The sculptures are so organic, and copper is perhaps the last material you'd believe it to be made of. Even from quite close up it looks like lichen and moss. They're all really large piece, but there's such a delicacy to them. They do feel like real flowers. I particularly love the lotus pods, just stunning.

Another stop was the Mountain Art Gallery, featuring a collection of Chinese and Russian artists, I would say Illustrators, although verging into Fine Art.

Typical of me, these pencil drawings were my favourite. Nothing better that something simple, ghostly, and oozing life.

The district itself is an art form really, and the art district has grown out of the shells of old factories and workshops. They now house galleries, studios, and all these cool bookshop/coffeeshops. Just...the bomb.

I also bought a literal ton of magazines, which I'll be leafing through with you in a future blogpost/s!