Shanghai Frolic might be seen in the context of a Situationist’s derive or wander but this work is meant to be read as a frolic. It would be an unmediated spectator-visitor meander.

I made a series of eight bicycle trips: North, North East, East, South East, South, South West, West, North West. The flat in Brilliant City near Suzhou Creek was the start-finish point for these forays.  For 8 hours I travelled the highways and byways, daytime and night time, hither and dither; serendipity was my master.

Using a small Dictaphone I recorded to tape my first impressions and contemplations of the city. With an ‘Olympus Trip’ 35 mm stills camera I also took pictures. Wherever possible I stopped to investigate and record the ‘ sonique-concrete ’ of the place: from the banging and drilling of the construction to the hooting and tooting of the traffic, from the whistling and shouting of the people to the becking and calling of the wildlife. 

I then extracted my voice observations and contemplations to produce a book. These first-hand impressions were translated into both Chinese written characters, (pictographic symbols of spoken words) and Rebus, (a simple pictographic text-based symbol system used for people with communication problems in the West).

The book was modelled on the traditional Chinese Calligraphy books that are found in stationers all over Shanghai and include carbon-copied drawings taken from the Olympus Trip snapshots.

A CD also accompanies the book, and this contains edited recordings from the ‘bicycle derives’ as well as any other found sounds that were deemed apt.

The final component to Shanghai Frolic was dependent on being able to present the book, the Cd and the drawings within the context of an Installation; a two screen video projection. On one screen a panoramic view of Shanghai as a large storm builds over the skyline, on the other, close up footage of people’s apartments at night time. All shot from the 34th floor of the flat in Brilliant City and reminiscent in part of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. The sound filling the Installation is taken from both the Cd and the “ field ” Dictaphone recordings.

NB. ‘Shanghai Frolic’ is inspired in part by Woody Gutherie’s ‘grassy grass grass, tree tree tree, leafy leaf leaf, 1 2 3, birdy bird bird, fly fly fly, nesty nest nest, high high high’.

NBB. Whilst making the cycle trips I left in my wake a series of Xeroxed ‘LOST’ notices. They were produced in a style normally associated with pets that have gone missing. They were placed in phone boxes and asked for information that might lead to the whereabouts of my deadad or any other deadad’s for that matter. This was the continuation of a project instigated a year ago in London. There is an email address for replies and I am curious to see whether they might elicit a response from the people of Shanghai. If so then these might also find a way into the book.

NBBB. Text and pictograms were generated using Writing with Symbols.