People's Architecture
	BIO   |  QUOTE     CHRISTOPHER PHILLIPS I am constantly amazed by the energy and dynamism of Shanghai. When I go back to New York after spending a week in Shanghai, New York feels like a retirement village in comparison. I find in Shanghai very hypnotic, with its speed and its dense, multi-layered everyday experience. The neon-lit nighttime glow of the city is unforgettable, and so is the sight of the facades of enormous buildings turning into moving electronic images. It is like being in a wild dream. I must say that when I first came to Shanghai I was a little bit horrified by its excessive qualities, but the city gradually becomes an irresistible acquired taste. And I really miss it when I go back to a quieter city like New York. I believe that one of the main advantages of Chinese contemporary artists across the spectrum is that most of them are not weighted down by an overly detailed knowledge of the long traditions in Western modern or contemporary art. This gives them a certain freedom to combine elements from different moments and periods. Chinese contemporary artists use their imagination in completely unexpected ways. This is very difficult for a Western artist, for someone who has gone through the training in art academies. Western artists study the whole list of great masters and masterpieces in sequential order and always have an awareness of this chronology in the back of their mind. You don't have that kind of heavy weight in Chinese contemporary art. There is more lightness and an ability to move very quickly, to combine different elements without worrying too much about whether it is historically justifiable. Christopher Phillips | curator ICP New York, interview with People's Architecture, Shanghai, November 11, 2006