8: Art

So one day last week I got an email from my program director. She was asking for male students who were interested in a modeling job, for 4 hours, which paid about 400 yuan, or 62 dollars. I had assumed it was a fashion modeling job, which I was totally down for. I mean, I may as well have fun while I'm in China. Anyway, I notified the director that I was interested, and she arranged a meeting with the artist. I met them last Thursday, and they explained to me that the thing was an art project in which 100 guys would be standing around in their underwear, black shoes, and police hats. Despite this, I was still down for it.

After the meeting, I emailed my family to check if they were okay with it. They all actually seemed WAY more enthusiastic than I expected them to be. I was expecting them to be much more hesitant about it, especially after a talk my dad and I had about what character I would be in the Rocky Horror Picture Show cast. I told him that I would obviously be Brad because I’m a total nerd, I had the glasses for it, and I was perfectly comfortable being in my underwear around other people. He told me that that was something a parent did not want to hear. So imagine my surprise when he was much more excited about this than I was.

So, with my family’s approval, on Monday, I met up with the 3 other guys, Isaac, Brian, and Ben. We met up with the Arts and Culture professor of the program, and he drove us over to 798 Art Zone, which is a famous modern art district in Beijing where the gallery is. We got there earlier and got to survey the space. It is GORGEOUS! It looked like the MOMA in New York City, on a smaller scale. I got to meet the gallery owner, and told him in perfect Chinese that his gallery looked like the MOMA. We hung out for a while before all the other models arrived.

When the thing finally started, they herded groups up to private areas to change. I noticed they were segregating Chinese models from the foreign models, and later I asked someone why they were doing that. He told me that it was because the Chinese tend to peek at foreigners (you know, I really don’t have to explain this further, right?), and they wanted to protect the foreigners’ privacies.

After we had changed, we looked for our spots in the grid as they set up the camera and video cameras. I was second row, while Brian, who looks like a Jesus with piercings and skull tattoos, was right in front and center. For 4 hours after that, we had to hold a pose while they took pictures of us from different angles. Also, at one point, we had to hold a pose for 10 minutes while they filmed us. It was one of those moments where your glamorous fantasies crash into harsh realities.

It was still fun though, because I talked to the people around me during our breaks. I found out that of the foreigners, we came from America, Germany, Dominica, Sri Lanka, Italy, as well as a few other countries. Also, some of the Chinese people had never seen black people that close up, and wanted to feel their hair. One Chinese guy next to me pointed to a black guy and said “Kobe Bryant”, and so I pointed to him and said “Yao Ming”. Near the end, they wanted a picture of all the guys huddled together, and these Chinese guys kept on picking at Brian’s leg hair. There was a photographer who was mildly obsessed with Brian and me, and the entire 4 hours, kept on taking pictures of us from different angles.

When we finished, we all changed back to our clothes and drove back home. It was a fun experience, and I can’t wait for the final result to be out so I can see it and show everyone! I’m also planning to put “participated in a professional Chinese art project” on my resume. Do you think that will land me a nice job?