Hybrid Oil 360° Panoramic VR Paintings

Catagories: Nonction > Art > Collections, Catalogues, Exhibitions > General Nonction > Art > Digital Enter the Art Experience! Introducing Hybrid Oil 360° Panoramic VR Paintings... physical/virtual hybrid paintings that occupy physical gallery space while simultaneously manifesting within the virtual world of 360° panoramic technology.

• Tales of Travel Discoveries • Paintings of Famous Sights • Digital Media of Hybrid Oil 360° Panoramic VR Paintings Travel Art 2019: Ravages of Time & Permanence of Wonder features: C T • Illustration & Comics O C N E

• Impasto Oil Paintings N N • Travel Art & Travel Writing E N C O • Hybrid Oil 360° Panoramic VR Paintings T C Travel Art 2019: Ravages of Time & Permanence of Wonder traces an artist’s trajectory from comic art and travel illustration to impasto oil painting and Hybrid Oil 360° Panoramic VR Paintings. Visual journalism and Travel Art represent images from six countries across three continents. Travel Writing explores Asian food culture, contemporary architecture, and a traveler’s literary pilgrimage to the real Shangri-La. Travel with me to China, India, Nepal, Indonesia, Ethiopia, the United States, and on into the virtual world.

Dave Alber creates Travel Art and Travel Writing. His Travel Art shares an experience of wonder at our cultural continuity and universal humanity. Dave is known for his impasto oil paintings and for being the inventor of Hybrid Oil 360° Panoramic VR Paintings. Dave’s books include: • Travel Art & Travel Writing: A Curious Heart’s Wanderlust in China, • Travel Art 2018: Intimations, • The Heart of Myth: Wisdom Stories of Endangered People, and • The Taotie Image in Chinese Art, Culture, and Cosmology Receive Dave’s art book Travel Art: Intimations for free at http://DaveAlber.com. R a v a g e s o f T i m e & P e r m a n e n c e o f W o n d e r

DAVE ALBER: TRAVEL ART 2019:

R a v a g e s o f T i m e & Permanence of Wonder D a v e A l b e r : T r a v e l A rt 2019 :: h ttp :// D a v e A l b e r . c o m What are reviewers saying about Dave’s books?

“As someone who is passionately committed to the survival of both the world’s treasure trove of myths and the indigenous peoples who conjured up so many of those marvelous stories, I deeply admire Dave Alber’s anthology, The Heart of Myth. This collection of wisdom stories is the book lover’s equivalent of spinning a globe and vowing to travel wherever your finger lands, and to learn and respect the traditions you find there.” Phil Cousineau Author of Once and Future Myths, The Art of Pilgrimage, and host of Global Spirit on LINK TV

“A little treasury of wild and wise stories.” Sam Keen Author of Fire in the Belly: On Being a Man and Sightings: Extraordinary Encounters with Ordinary Birds http://samkeen.com

“The stories in this book are a delightful testament to the human imagination, and full of timeless wisdom about life. In our modern confusion, The Heart of Myth looks back in order to help us find our way forward.” Wes `Scoop’ Nisker Author of Essential Crazy Wisdom, Buddhist meditation teacher, and performer wesnisker.com

“As more cultures face extinction, their wisdom is gathered, preserved, and, passed on by those who live within the cultures of destruction, yet reside in a place where the spirit grows stronger, where ancient truth strives to be heard, through the chaos. Here, we are invited to journey into The Heart of Myth, and, we are the better for heeding the call; it is a privilege to sit among the wisdom keepers of these old and powerful stories.” Malidoma Patrice Somé, Ph.D. Author of Of Water and the Spirit, Ritual: Power, Healing and Community, and The Healing Wisdom of Africa www.malidoma.com

Copyright © 2019, 2020 and beyond by Dave Alber. The right of Dave Alber to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs, and Patent Act of 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Newspaper and magazine reproductions © the respective publisher and reproduced with their consent. http://DaveAlber.com Name: Dave Alber, author. Scan the QR code to visit http://DaveAlber.com Title: Dave Alber: Travel Art 2019: Ravages of Time & Permanence of Wonder Subjects: Art Catalogues, Art Exhibitions, Virtual Reality, Digital Art ISBN: 9781689274562

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“Intimations is creative expression from travel impressions married to art. I travel and I oil paint. So I was really surprised, so pleasantly surprised when I met Dave and discovered his concept of travel art. I mean it was like plunking down in a bus seat after a weary day and turning to see a long lost friend right beside you. I just never thought of travel ideas and art together. And so I recognized paintings of his that captured places he had been which often require a quickness of wit, humor and reflection as not to be lost by the time we are somewhere else. A snapshot of a magic moment or impression. Surprised pleasantly by the concept of travel art and I shall integrate that into my paintings as well. Thank you David!” Matthew McDaniel Founder of the Akha Heritage Foundation (akha.org)

“Dave Alber’s Myth and Medium blends art with myth. His images and essays challenge the viewer to commune with the eternal values of our shared mythological heritage.” Ginette Paris, Ph.D. Author of Pagan Grace and of Pagan Meditations

“Alber’s work is grounded in the notion of myth-making itself. The personal and the interpersonal mix and mesh, to become something new, something that breaks the static desires of culture itself.” Maggie Macary, Ph.D. Creator of Myth & Culture

“A Curious Heart’s Wanderlust in China is an artful journey through Chinese food and myths. This book is filled with unique things. and I don’t just mean, Dave Alber’s artwork. For example, in the first section of the book, he helps the reader journey through the art using the powers of modern technology, specifically VR. In Hybrid Oil 360° Panoramic VR Paintings, readers use a QR code to immerse themselves in the artwork experience. In other parts of the book, the artwork and text work together as a seamless real-reality experience. Alber’s delightful writing and commentary on his journeys through China are a pleasure to read. This book is a quick read and will be enjoyed by art lovers and travelers (including armchair travelers) alike.” Jill L. Ferguson Author, entrepreneur and founder of Creating The Freelance Career http://www.jillferguson.com

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Ravages of Time & Contents Permanence of Wonder Article: Post-Modern Architectural Irony in Suzhou’s the Gate to the East ...... 22

Introduction Article: Chasing An Elusive Ideal in Modern Day Shangri-La ...... 23 About Dave Alber, Travel Artist . . 6 Ravages of Time & Permanence of Wonder: Dave’s Comments ...... 24 Artist Statement ...... 7 Exhibition: Ravages of Time & Permanence of Wonder: Impasto Oil Paintings Artist Journey ...... 8 by Benj Kinenga and Dave Alber ...... 25

Exhibitions, Education & Illustrations . . 9 Painting: Falling Into The Sky: Ganden Sumtsenling Monastery, Shangri-La, Yunan, China ...... 26

Painting: Grain Storage Warehouse: Saint Ignatius Contact Cathedral, Shanghai, China ...... 28 Painting: Gate To The East, Suzhou, China ...... 30 Contact: Dave’s Comments ...... 10 Old World New World Painting: Suzhou IFS, Suzhou, China ...... 32 Exhibition: Contact ...... 11 Hybrid Oil 360° Panoramic VR Paintings . . . . . 54 Painting: Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall Contact: Curator’s Comments ...... 13 during Winter, China ...... 34 Exhibition: Old World New World: Oil, Mixed Article: Snow Fish ...... 14 Media, and 360° Panoramic VR Paintings . . . . . 55 Painting: Underwater Sunlight: Legian Beach, Bali ...... 36 Painting: Snow Fish (Xue Yue) ...... 15 Painting: Twin Pagodas 360° ...... 56 Painting: Black Sand Sunset: Balian Beach, Bali ...... 38 Bad Year to Be a Cat ...... 15 Painting: Suzhou Center 360° ...... 58 Painting: Ancient Canal in Suzhou, China ...... 40 Comic: Bad Year to Be a Cat: Painting: Temple Of Mystery (Xuanmiao) 360° . . . 60 Painting: The Verticality of Laughter: A Joke In the Former French Concession ...... 16 Amongst Acolytes at Tiger Hill Pagoda, Suzhou, China . . . . 42 Painting: Suzhou Hilton 360° ...... 62 Comic: Bad Year to Be a Cat: Painting: Alone: Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, USA ...... 44 VR Paintings: Instructions ...... 64 In the Yuyuan Garden Bazaar ...... 17 Painting: Lalibela Rosary: Annunciation Celebration What people are saying about Dave Alber’s Travel Art . . 65 Comic: Bad Year to Be a Cat: in Lalibela, Ethiopia ...... 46 At Shanghai’s China Art Museum . . . . . 18 Rewards of a Rogue Travel Artist ...... 66 Painting: St . George Church in Lalibela, Ethiopia ...... 48 Comic: Bad Year to Be a Cat: Dave Answers Clients ...... 67 At Shanghai’s Saint Ignatius Cathedral . . . 19 Painting: Khajuraho Temple, India ...... 50 Connect and Get Involved ...... 68 Comic: I Love You: The Neglected Words . . 20 Painting: Sustenance of Devotion: An Offering of Marigolds on the Remains of a Durbur Square Temple after the 2015 Earthquake: Kathmandu, Nepal ...... 52

4 5 D a v e A l b e r : T r a v e l A rt 2019 :: h ttp :// D a v e A l b e r . c o m ABOUT DAVE ALBER, TRAVEL ARTIST Dave Alber creates Travel Art and Travel Writing. His Travel Art shares an experience of wonder at our cultural continuity and universal humanity.

Dave Alber is the inventor of Hybrid Oil 360° Panoramic VR Paintings, which are physical/virtual hybrid paintings that occupy a physical space in the gallery while simultaneously manifesting within the virtual world of 360° panoramic technology. Thus, the paintings are both physical and virtual.

Dave Alber’s recent Travel Art exhibitions and events in Suzhou, Kunshan, and Shanghai, China have been: • Old World New World featuring Hybrid Oil 360° Panoramic VR Paintings (Kunchef, Kunshan, China), • Contact solo show (WangDe Art Shop, Suzhou, China), • Art Auction for Schoolchildren in Kenya with Nathan Pelton (WangDe Art Shop, Suzhou, China), • A Brief History of Impasto Painting (Suzhou Arts Collective, Suzhou, China), • Art Talk with Dave Alber (Elevate, Shanghai, China), • Art Drop Shanghai (Elevate, Shanghai, China), • Ravages of Time & Permanence of Wonder with Benj Kinenga (Suzhou Arts Collective, Suzhou, China), • INTIMATIONS solo show (Kunchef, Kunshan, China).

Dave’s comic art and illustrations have appeared recently in That’s Shanghai, Suzhou Review, Shaving in the Dark, and Open Magazine. His comic “Bedding Shanghai” was featured in the Shanghai International Literary Festival.

You can receive Dave’s art book Dave Alber: Travel Art: 2018: Intimations for free at http://DaveAlber.com.

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Theoretical Foundations: I create Travel Art. I look to the emotional experience “ of wonder to explore how My Travel Art shares an • representational art, experience of wonder at • high-level concepts, and • a deft manipulation of the our cultural continuity picture plane and universal humanity. can invite a genuinely substantive ” communication with an art viewer. I see “travel” as a conversational For me… opening for a dialogue about: • the experience of wonder, Wonder is the doorway: • our shared cultural continuity, and “ • to aesthetic pleasure, ” • our universal humanity. • to cultural and interpersonal connections, Therefore... • to breaking old psychological habits Travel Art is art that of cynicism or materialism, “ • to directly experience the vitality expresses wonder at of life, and the world we live in. • to genuine happiness. ” Further—and this might require a stretch of the imagination— I believe that… our shared experience is ultimately a pulsation of wonder.

Techniques: I believe in impasto as I work in a variety of mediums, “ though favor an expressive force • impasto oil painting, and for creating a rich • hybrid oil 360° panoramic VR paintings. vocabulary of texture.”

7 D a v e A l b e r : T r a v e l A rt 2019 :: h ttp :// D a v e A l b e r . c o m ARTIST JOURNEY A STORY—IN REVERSE ORDER—OF MAKING AN ART OF TRAVEL TRAVEL ART & TRAVEL WRITING 2018–Present :: China Living and traveling abroad, I create Travel Art. I love to paint impasto oil paintings and hybrid oil 360° panoramic VR paintings. I paint travel scenes, portraits, landscapes, and cityscapes; I paint magazine illustrations and comic art as well as write travel writing for magazines. People connect with me to commission beautiful art personalized just for them, their families, and their businesses. I also enjoy connecting with my clients in the Travel Art Adventurer’s Club to share and bond together in our love of travel. Dave Alber painting in his studio in Suzhou, China TEACHING & CHARACTER-BUILDING EXPERIENCES 2010–2018 :: China, Saudi Arabia, and Nepal From a stable life in corporate America, I took a deep breath and a leap of faith and followed a dream overseas to Kathmandu, Nepal, where I started an online trauma recovery product business. Losing all my money, I found myself down and out in Thailand and Taiwan. Re-strategizing, I began teaching in universities in China, Saudi Arabia, and Nepal. Learning from past business errors, I started a second online business (Easy American Accent) through which I successfully published and promoted five books and two DVDs in the English Education market. The Ark of the Covenant revealed in an Ethiopian festival

GRAPHIC DESIGNER / ILLUSTRATOR 1990–2010 :: USA Before living and traveling in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, I worked for a Fortune 500 company, drawing illustrations and designing literature for print, web, and multimedia. However, a slow lassitude from ten years in the corporate world had begun to settle in, and so I began strategizing the creation of a life abroad. I wanted adventures in far off lands. I wanted to visit temples in the Himalayas, climb China’s holy mountains, experience the Middle East and Africa, and enjoy exuberant In the Nepalese Himalayas; Everest in the background cultural festivals all over the world. At the time, I had no idea that an entire community of people might share this same desire to throw off the shackles of corporate confinements and make an art of travel. Naïve about the journey, I began planning how to make an art of travel. However, it would take a leap of faith and journeys across several continents in order to learn how to do it successfully.

8 R a v a g e s o f T i m e & P e r m a n e n c e o f W o n d e r Exhibitions, Education & ILLUSTRATIONS SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019 Old World New World, KunChef, Kunshan, Jiangsu, China (October 13–November 30) 2019 Contact, WangDe Art Shop, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China (June 30–July 30) 2018 INTIMATIONS, KunChef, Kunshan, Jiangsu, China (December 30–June 14) 2006 Myth & Medium, Minds Eye Gallery, Campbell, CA 1998 Meditations, Neva Lomason Memorial Library, Carrolton, GA GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019 Ravages of Time & Permanence of Wonder, Suzhou Arts Collective, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China (March 8–May 11) 2008 A Sense of Place, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto 2007 Students of Cherise Thompson, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto 2007 Printmakers of the Pacific Art League, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto 2007 Figures: Human & Anatomical, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto 2000 Figurative Art, City Art, San Francisco, CA 1998–2000 The End of the World, starting at The University of Tennessee and touring the U.S. for two years 1997–1998 The Hand, three exhibits in Carrolton, Georgia 1996 The Renaissance Festival of Naples, Italy, (Art Director) USO, Naples, Italy RECENT ART EVENTS EDUCATION 2019 Art Drop by ELEVATE in Shanghai MA / Mythological Studies with (April 24) an Emphasis in Depth Psychology 2002 Pacifica Graduate Institute, Carpenteria, CA 2019 Art Talk by ELEVATE in Shanghai (April 21, 2019) BFA / Concentrating in Printmaking 1999 The State University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA 2019 A Brief History of Impasto Painting (April 11th) AA / Concentrating in Art 1991 St. Petersburg College, St. Petersburg, FL 2018 Shanghai International Literary Festival Certificate in Graphic Design Technology 1991 (May 18, 2018), exhibited comic art Pinellas Vocational Technical Institute, Largo, FL RECENT PUBLISHED ILLUSTRATIONS Open Magazine (2018), Suzhou Review (2018), That’s Shanghai (2018), That’s Guangzhou (cover) (2018), Shaving in the Dark (2018)

9 D a v e A l b e r : T r a v e l A rt 2019 :: h ttp :// D a v e A l b e r . c o m CONTACT: DAVE’S COMMENTS

My vision of the Incorporating WangDe’s blend of dynastic and “exhibition was to “ contemporary architecture, bring work from three we successfully created an environment where the disciplines (comics, gallery visitor participated illustrations, and oil in the space as a blended paintings) into one narrative experience. unique ‘narrative space’. ” ” This two-page comic spread poetically imagines Shanghai as “ feminine in my contribution of comic In this moment… in your imagination… travel with me… art to the Shanghai International Literature Festival. This contem- “walk down these steps in the porary piece raises questions of rain… toward the temple… inclusion: ‘Can comics be literature? on New Years Eve. The lines Can comics be art? Where are the between things dissolve. Text edges and distinctions?’ becomes image. Experience merges with imagination. ” ”

Contemporary art often rejects traditional genres and standards of aesthetic evalua- “ tion, while at the same time, embracing the For Shaving In the Dark, ‘lower arts’ of comics, illustration, and even I created this spread (next cultural kitsch into a new aesthetic. Explor- “pages) about the difficulty of ing both sides of the aesthetic dialogue… articulating experiences of I endeavor to grow as both a painter and intimacy. The negative space human being by ‘bridging the gap’ between of the male and female faces the extremes of both the high/low and mirror that of the other. traditional/contemporary dichotomies. 10 ” ” R a v a g e s o f T i m e & P e r m a n e n c e o f W o n d e r CONTACT Dave Alber Showcases Comics, Illustration, and Oil Paintings Celebrating a Storyteller’s Approach to Travel in an Art Auction for Kenyan Schoolchildren

Art Auction for Kenyan Schoolchildren was a the charity art auction, as his book The Heart collaboration between artists Dave Alber and of Myth: Wisdom Stories From Endangered Nathan Pelton and Art Curator WangDe of People recounts the life ways and mythology of WangDe Art Shop in Suzhou, China. For several the Masai of Kenya. years now, Nathan Pelton has led groups of The Contact art exhibition, curated by WangDe, Suzhou Foreign Language School students to celebrates a storyteller’s approach to travel by Kenya for an exchange program with a school in reflecting on the life and travel an impoverished neighborhood. writing of Jan Morris, one of This art auction raised funds to Britain’s greatest post-World War II buy school supplies and daily travel writers. WangDe explains, necessities for underprivileged “The theme of this exhibition children in Kenya’s slums. Nathan follows in the path laid out by Jan Pelton explains, “A seemingly Morris’ Contact, as a tribute to his/ insignificant one bottle of water, her travel writing, which contains one pen, one pair of shoes is the extraordinary insight and immor- most urgent need for underprivi- tal expression.” leged children in Kenya.” This art auction was a collaborative event that featured the wax encaustic The exhibition location in WangDe Art Space art of Nathan Pelton and work in different mediums (itself a blend of dynastic-era and modern from Dave Alber, who strongly connected with design) brings art to a residential setting, 11 D a v e A l b e r : T r a v e l A rt 2019 :: h ttp :// D a v e A l b e r . c o m reminding us that paintings are not only for As WangDe explains, “With friendly understanding, museums, but are actually far more accessible a demonstration of respect, and a conscious and even intimate. In this environment, images avoidance of the narrow-minded rejection of the and text (in English and Chinese) ‘foreign’, Dave Alber’s artwork pulse between media-based, exudes a light joy, but also offers utilitarian, and purely aesthetic the humorous perspective of an contexts… blurring the boundaries American traveler.” between each in a truly contem- Travel Artist, Dave Alber brought a porary international milieu. The unique cross-cultural experience foreign and domestic blend to Suzhou, China with: together and bridge the cultural gap through communications in • a collaborative charity art both languages and the purely auction benefiting the school- aesthetic realm beyond language. Narrative children of an impoverished neighborhood becomes space… and space becomes a social in Kenya; and experiential aesthetic whole. • a reminder of the present moment’s debt Extending Jan Morris’s tradition of travel writing to the past, as signified by the exhibition into the present, Dave Alber explores his own location, the trajectory of travel narrative trajectory in illustrated articles, comics, and from Jan Morris, and the themes of cultural oil paintings as forms of visual journalism. The continuity reflected in his travel art; exhibition space of Contact, itself, is an • Outsider Art, in a comic series written in experiment in “narrative space”. It brings work both Chinese and English, sharing insights from three disciplines (comics, illustrations, and from being outside the dominant culture of oil paintings) into one unique narrative space. the region; and The narratives—in travel writing, comics, and • Contemporary Art blending both high and illustrations—unpack the meaning of Chinese low aesthetics in a diversity of mediums in temples, festivals, food customs, architecture, an event space designed to further disrupt and enigmas, such as Shangri-la. Outsider Art, the hard and fast distinctions within the Dave’s Bad Year to Be a Cat comic series explores a art world. minority outsider’s perspective in Shanghai through the metaphor of a cat’s experience of Please visit http://ILoveTravelArt.com for more dog year in China. information.

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“‘Contact’ is a noun of varied nuances, not all This is what art is all about. to my taste. . . . In a lifetime of travel and litera- With friendly understanding, a demonstration of ture I have written relatively little about people. respect, and a conscious avoidance of the narrow- Places, atmospheres, histories have figured far minded rejection of the “foreign”, Dave Alber’s more in my all too often purple prose. But people artwork exudes a light joy, but also offers the everywhere, nevertheless, have been sparks of humorous perspective of an “American traveler”. my work, if only in glimpses–a sighting through a window, a gentle snatch of sound, the touch of The importance of travel can be realized when you a hand–and it is mostly such fugitive moments discover the beauty of diversity recognized when and observations, scattered across half a century maintaining an inclusive attitude. I remembered last and forty-odd books, that I have here gratefully night… 5 years ago in Kyushu, looking at drunken plucked out their literary obscurity.” Japanese people in a wine house trying to open Jan Morris a tie and I instantly understood the valuable foundation of what it means to live together as These words come from the preface of Contact “harmonious people”. Similarly, the art of this (2009) by Jan Morris, one of Britain’s greatest post- “foreigner” Dave Alber also offers a glimpse into the World War II travel writers. Her vivid sense of humor cultural corners of our own Chinese society. and precise observation of details are memorable and philosophical. “Mandarin fish” is a common Chinese dish, for example, but in Dave Alber’s eyes, it has an Like many expats around the world, Dave Alber, indescribable meaning. It’s like you’re sitting on a living in China, comes across as appropriately noisy Hong Kong street, and you cannot clearly see candid, appropriately polite, and expresses his the red and green signs or the cold skyscrapers. simple happiness after his experiences. These subtle expressions after observation have the capacity Perhaps we spend too much of our lives obsessing on to wake an observer to the joy of “traveling alone”, brief moments of contact with ourselves, no matter which can all-too-often become deeply buried how superficial or enjoyable. However, purpose and within memory’s already indistinct, though meaning have been scattered before us in a path of indescribably gorgeous moments. discovery, waiting to be explored in the enlivened moment… and afterwards, enjoyed as the warm The theme of this exhibition follows in the path laid afterglow of your own subjective discovery. out by Jan Morris’ Contact, as a tribute to her travel writing, which contains extraordinary insight and — WangDe immortal expression.

13 D a v e A l b e r : T r a v e l A rt 2019 :: h ttp :// D a v e A l b e r . c o m Snow Fish

While on busi- In England, cod is the fish that people use for fish ness in Shang- and chips. I never thought of cod as being in any way hai, my girlfriend remarkable. Nevertheless, we bought the cod and and I had time to decided to cook it snow fish style. We would steam duck into a local it over a layer of soft tofu just like at the Shanghai cafeteria-style restaurant. So that night, we prepared the fish for restaurant where cooking. First, we let the fish marinate in a dish of we saw an array Chinese yellow wine. Next we placed it in the of well-presented steamer over top of a layer of soft tofu. Then hot dishes that we waited. sat steaming under the heat Too long apparently. The texture of the fish was light lamps. My girlfriend stopped and blinked as a cook and flakey, soft and buttery, but it didn’t have the brought out some fresh plates of fish and laid them snow fish’s “melt in your mouth” softness. We had behind a small sign that read: 鳕鱼. failed to achieve full snow fish success. Time and heat, we had realized, were the enemy. Hidden in the “Oh, you have to eat this,” she said, “This fish is very steamer it had been difficult to gauge how quickly special.” the fish was cooking. I was skeptical, as I’m always at least a little skeptical Undaunted though, a week later, we bought two of Chinese delicacies; my memory hovered for a more packages of frozen cod. This time, after moment on the image of turtle heads floating in marinating it in yellow wine and salt, we steamed soup. “Ok, I said, “Let’s try this ‘special’ fish.” the cod on a bed of soft tofu in a dish in the wok over a low flame. We would watch the fish cook, “It’s called snow fish,” she explained as we sat down and poke it every now and then to test the fish as it at our table. transformed from raw to that perfect uniqueness “Snow fish,” I repeated. “I assume because the of texture: no longer raw, nor fish and chips firm. meat is so white.” I took a bite. The fish had a light Finally, we garnished it with green onion. buttery taste, but was remarkable for how its meat Quickly, we rushed to the table and broke through absolutely dissolved on my tongue like… why, the soft flesh of the fish with our chopsticks. We absolutely like new fallen snow. It was delicious, and each lifted a piece, then paused, and almost holding the texture was unlike any fish that I had ever tasted. our breath, looked into each others eyes. Was this We enjoyed it so much that we went back to have it? We took a bite, tasting the soft sweet fish, its it again on our second day in Shanghai. And a few aromatic scent, and buttery softness dissolving weeks later, my girlfriend pointed the fish out to me on the tongue, echoed by a hint of wine and salt. when we were in the supermarket, “This is the fish Like snow on the tongue, it dissolved into perfect that is snow fish.” With excitement, I scanned the ephemera, into memory, into dream. package looking for the English name of the fish, We had mastered the snow fish. and was surprised to read: “Cod”. Cod?

“Snow Fish” is an article published in the Suzhou Review on October 29, 2018. Snow Fish (Xue Yu) is a mixed media painting featured in the article. Suzhou Review can be found at all Suzhou newstands and on WeChat.

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Snow Fish (Xue Yue) mixed media on paper 11 x 7 in. (28 x 18 cm.) 2018

That’s Shanghai can BAD YEAR TO BE A CAT be found on WeChat. From That’s Shanghai: Dave Alber is a travel painter whose cultural richness of the city. This month, illustrations have appeared most recently in “Bad Year To Be a Cat” invites you to Suzhou Review, Open Magazine and Nepali imagine Chinese Dog Year through the Renaissance. His comic “Bedding Shanghai” eyes of a cat. was featured in the 2018 Shanghai International Literary Festival’s Erotic Fiction Contest.

In our monthly series, we feature one Dave’s amazing comics. Each comic takes place in a different area of Shanghai, the artistic style adjusting itself to mirror the feeling, tone and character of that neighborhood, as well as to celebrate the 15 D a v e A l b e r : T r a v e l A rt 2019 :: h ttp :// D a v e A l b e r . c o m

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21 D a v e A l b e r : T r a v e l A r t 2019 :: h tt p ://I L o v e T r a v e l A r t . c o m Post-Modern Architectural Irony in Suzhou’s The Gate To the East

Suzhou’s most famous post-modern skyscraper is Further, there the Gate To the East, which for obvious reasons has is an unmistak- been dubbed “the pants building”. This skyscraper able Freudian is also a contemporary symbol of the new dimension to affluence of Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP). the skyscraper’s shape. Discre- It is an odd experience when an object suggests tion prevents to its viewer that it is not what it appears to be, me from elabo- and that it is indeed something else entirely. This rating upon this. odd form of irony, however, is a hallmark of post- However, if you modern architecture. I hope to show the intentional view the Gate (and perhaps unintentional) irony that infuses To the East from Suzhou’s most famous skyscraper with a complex the exact cen- web of significance. ter of Suzhou’s That the skyscraper looks like a giant pair of pants Central Park, is a subject of humor among local Suzhou-ren. you will see the It’s not surprising for post-modern architecture unambiguously (like post-modern sculpture) to look like giant phallic Suzhou International Financial Square (IFS) representations of mundane objects; Beijing’s Birds skyscraper on the east side of Jinji Lake thrust- Nest stadium being an obvious example. However, ing up between the “legs” of the Gate To the East. architects at Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall It’s impossible for that extraordinary feat of city (RMJM) inform us, through the skyscraper’s name, planning to have been unintentional. While visiting that it is to be interpreted as a “gate”. the skyscraper, I asked my guide about this. “Yes,” she informed me. “It’s to represent the symbolic To understand the significance of this, it is essential union of Heaven and Earth, the feminine yin and to know that SIP, the affluent area of Suzhou where male yang coming together.” the gate resides, recently changed its name from China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park, which Any fan of post-modern irony should feel that they was a collaborative venture between China and get their fill in Suzhou’s Gate To the East… for it isn’t Singapore. China’s intent with the venture was every skyscraper that offers itself simultaneously expressed in a quote from Deng Xiaoping, as a post-modern representation of the common- “Singapore enjoys good social order and is well place writ large; part of the historical trajectory of managed. We should tap on their experience, and the gateway in architecture; a symbol of the shifting learn how to manage better than them.” However, geopolitical and economic environment; an overt the international collaboration broke apart. Freudian suggestion; and ancient cosmological Nevertheless, as Singapore has long been known fan service. as “the gateway to Asia”, Suzhou’s Gate to the East symbolically announces that the new gateway to Asia is in Mainland China. “Post-Modern Architectural Irony in Suzhou’s The Gate To the East” appeared in Suzhou, China’s OPEN Magazine, issue 151, May 2019. You can get free OPEN magazine in five-star hotels, high-end restaurants and clubs and foreign supermarkets, international schools and private clubs in Suzhou-Wuxi- Changzhou area. You can browse the OPEN electronic journals on WeChat.

22 R a v a g e s o f T i m e & P e r m a n e n c e o f W o n d e r Chasing an Elusive Ideal In Modern Day Shangri-la In his 1933 novel reflection in the not-too-distant past, as suggestive Lost Horizon, and “just out of reach” as Hilton’s lost city. James Hilton introduced the In the old downtown area, sits Guishan Temple, c o n t e m p o r a r y which reflects the tastes of both Chinese and Tibetan mythic theme of Buddhism. In front of the temple, reflecting the con- a faraway land temporary aesthetic need for “world record biggest untouched by random objects”, sits the worlds biggest Tibetan the rapid hustle prayer wheel. Despite the kitsch intent behind it, the and bustle of carvings on the prayer wheel are quite beautiful. modern indus- Regardless of how jaded a visitor may become by trialized society. the kitsch or the characterless in modern Shangri-La, The theme found a traveler cannot help but be amazed when visit- so much reso- ing the “Little Potala Palace”—Ganden Sumtsenling nance with 20th Monastery—gorgeous and inspiring on a hilltop. century readers that the name One doesn’t need to be Buddhist, when trekking of his fictional up the steep path to the front entrance, in order utopia — to feel like a pilgrim—a literary pilgrim perhaps— Shangri-La—has searching for a lost ideal, a place of quietude and become a symbolic peace, that is uninvolved in the histrionic pace of ideal for many modern people desiring to “get off industrial society. the grid”. On the walls of the monastery’s buildings are Hoping to capitalize on this yearning, Yunan city beautiful frescos in Tibetan style. And inside the developers renamed Zhongdian county to 香格里拉 buildings, one discovers a labyrinth of highly (Xianggelila), “Shangri-La”, after the novel. ornamented rooms and meditation halls filled with flowing banners and gold Buddhist statues. Some Last year, I traveled to Yunan’s Shangri-La in order monks meditate in prayer rooms, while others chant to see its Tibetan culture for myself, and as a fan of in prayer halls. One hears the sound of medieval Lost Horizon, to compare China’s Shangri-La with horns being blown and sees and smells the intricate the mythic ideal of Hilton’s famous novel. butter sculpture in the shape of flower offerings. When reaching the city, I learned the sad news that in Here in Shangri-La’s monastery one finds a rhythmic 2014 a fire had burned out most of the old part of the and sensual world of devotion that one can city. The city that I visited, therefore, was mostly newly enter into—if only for a moment—that can transport constructed and uninspiringly characterless con- you back to both the lifestyle of the local Tibetan crete dwellings, each identical to the one next to it. community before the 2014 fire and the mythic It seemed ironic that even contemporary Shangri-La Shangri-La of James Hilton’ Lost Horizon. should hearken back to another lost ideal—its own

“Chasing an Elusive Ideal In Modern Day Shangri-la” is an article published in the Suzhou Review on February 25, 2019. Falling Into the Sky: Ganden Sumtsenling Monastery, Shangri-la, Yunan, China is an oil painting featured in the article. Suzhou Review can be found at all Suzhou newstands and on WeChat.

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RAVAGES OF TIME & PERMANENCE OF WONDER: DAVE’S COMMENTS “Just like the Nien—the mythic monster of the Chinese New Year— Time devours the details of life; it takes loved ones away; it eats the civilizations of the past. And as a wise man once said, “This too shall pass.” Despite that, however, despite the ravages of time, I would like for you to consider that the experience of wonder… offers a glimpse through the doorway into what is genuinely permanent.

If you can go inside and access that quality of perception— the perception of wonder—I’d like for you draw upon that as an immense inner resource.

Now… when you view the paintings in this exhibition, I would like to invite you to open your heart and mind to the experience of wonder. Is there something here—in the experience of wonder—that is more vast, more expansive, more valuable than a common day-to-day routine?

Every painting in this exhibition… is a doorway to wonder. I’d like to invite you to walk through that doorway… and to live in that moment of wonder: a moment of wonder that you might just experience… as being fresh, revitalizing, and ultimately… unbounded by time.”

— Dave Alber

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Ravages of Time & Permanence of Wonder communicates the transformations of time through the open state of wonder.

Paintings in this series depict pulsations of stasis and change.

These are the pulsations of the mind between the open state and time-bound awareness.

Therefore, it is the creator’s hope for the experience of the sensually alert viewer to be sustained in an open state that transcends the ravages of time... even when viewing images representing time’s passage.

This is, after all, the undergirding structure of our moment-to-moment experience.

25 D a v e A l b e r : T r a v e l A rt 2019 :: h ttp :// i l o v e T r a v e l A rt . c o m R a v a g e s o f T i m e & P e r m a n e n c e o f W o n d e r

The name Shangri-La comes from James Hilton’s novel Lost Horizon. While the painting “ reflects the cultural depth of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, particularly of Dzogchen, the highest level, which also reflects a state of awareness as open as the sky. The article draws attention to the illusive enigma of Shangri-La as both an idea and destination. This large impasto oil painting bridges the gap between my illustration work for magazines and my larger oil paintings. ”

Falling Into the Sky: Ganden Sumtsenling Monastery, Shangri-la, Yunan, China oil on canvas 19.6 x 23.6 in. (50 x 60 cm.) 2018 There is a pulsation between the impermanence— and cultural continuity—of the temple’s traditions and the permanence of wonder as symbolized by the sky. Through its indigenous traditions (Dzogchen and Bon), Tibetan Buddhism carries a cultural continuity from our pan-Eurasian Paleolithic reindeer hunting ancestors.