"I,China" Da>Space visit with Eddi Yip

We walk into the doorway of 84 FuJian Zhong Lu, off of the Nanking road on our way to visit Eddi Yip, custom toymaker. The scene is straight up urban China mix where we literally have to excuse ourselves as was walk through a family's lunch, heading to the stairs.

Up on the second floor, we find frosted glass doors with a customized graph signature that leads us into the domain of Eddi Yip and the adFunture posse. If people remember the fresh energy of youth culture lifestyle destinations such as Triple 5 Soul or Liquid Sky in New York during the '90s, then Da Space is both a beautiful continuum of this kind of creative design and energy, but also something entirely unique and new for Shanghai. Da>space, as Eddi describes it, is a gallery, playground, and meeting point–a place for the likeminded to find each other.

What is in the space is a new exhibition of action figures and attached art works such as posters and installation. The show is called "I,China" and it is off the dingalinger. Super fresh and fun and, by my lights, the flavor of more things to come in Shanghai city.

Here's background: Eddi has been producing collectable custom action figures that he produces in collaboration with individual artists. Moving from Hong Kong to Shanghai four years ago (Eddi is half Chinese and have Hong Kongese), he created the concept and production infrastructure for the adFunture startup. The action figures he has made up to now are limited edition, no run greater than 2000, and targeted straight at the international graph, sneaker pimp, custom t-shirt, skate rat nexus (so we're talking Tokyo-New York-Amsterdam-London-Paris…someone let me know if Dubai is already on this list too). With this new show, Eddi makes his opening salvo to put Shanghai on that list of global network destinations. He says he wants people to stop thinking about China as just a place to manufacture and to start thinking about it as a place of vision and original design.

About half a year ago Eddi Yip opened da>space, where local heads can come and commune, see the work and international heads have a destination. London Police graph crew recently did a three-week residency there that culminated with a show in the space and mucho tagging city wide—hey, that's what they do.

"I, China," with Beijing-based artist WZL, is the first show (and action figure) created by Chinese artists, in China, and for Chinese youth culture. The style of the figurine is specific to the zone from which it comes: strong posture with arms folded across the back, super stylized half-moon slits for eyes, Pillsbury dough boy like body. Each graphic or motion graphic artist invited to participate in the show got one figurine to modify and space to produce a poster or installation with the figure. Take a look at the images (more on the photo page) and check out the interview with Eddi on the video page, which will be loaded as soon as we can get a minute to offload & upload.


Eddi's blog + other adFunture bloggers:
http://www.adfuntureworkshop.com/blog/index.htm

Images from da>space opening party:
http://www.adfuntureworkshop.com/daspace/index.htm