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15.04.12
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The Rematch by Duke Riley

Brooklyn Artist Duke Riley, in China, Organizes a Rematch Race Between the 12 Chinese Zodiac Animals.
Time: April 15, 2012 at 4:00 pm CST
Location: Caogang River, Zhujiajiao, China

Talk by Duke Riley in Shanghai: The Rematch
Time: April 12th 2012 from 6:30 to 8:00 pm
Location: Minsheng Art Museum
570 Huai Hai Xi Lu, Building F, Shanghai

Have you ever wondered how the animals were chosen to be on the Chinese zodiac? American artist Duke Riley has come to Shanghai to recreate the legend of the race that resulted in the choosing of the 12 animals. Please join us at the Minsheng Art Museum as he talks about his project, “The Rematch” and what it means to work in the public sphere as an artist.


Project Background

According to Chinese mythology, the Jade Emperor initiated the zodiac in order to organize the measurement of time. The first twelve animals to cross the mighty river in a competitive race would each receive a year of the zodiac. The rat and the cat, both poor swimmers, persuaded the gullible ox to carry them across. As the ox began to lead the pack, the rat pushed the cat overboard and jumped off the ox to win the race alone. Hence, the first year of the zodiac was bestowed upon the cheating rat.

In the spirit of art, community and competition, artist Duke Riley has organized a rematch. On Sunday, April 15th at 4 pm CST, a river race and performance will take place on the Caogang River in the idyllic water village of Zhujiajiao on the outskirts of Shanghai. Each animal of the zodiac will be transported on a traditional gondola, accompanied by a local rower and an opera singer from Zhujiajiao. The singer will perform songs from the “first animal” perspective, making a musical case for why that animal should have won the original race.

According to Riley, an American artist with a history of staging epic water-based battles and performances, “No calendars will be reset at the finish line, nor will any closer understanding of that mythical day be realized. The only realization will be a brief moment of divine absurdity between two shores.”

“The Rematch,” commissioned by smARTpower, an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by the Bronx Museum of the Arts, has brought Riley to China for the first time. The Educational and Cultural Affairs office brings people of all cultures together through the visual arts to create mutual understanding, which is what made them a perfect collaborator for Arthub Asia. With Arthub Asia as his production partner, Riley worked closely with local artists, farmers, designers, embroiderers, traditional opera singers, hip hop and rock singers, school children, and many other members of the community to make “The Rematch” a reality.

Though the country may be new terrain for the American artist, his proclivity for maritime themes features strongly throughout his body of work. Riley chose this particular project to highlight the porous nature of waterfront communities and the tolerance and cultural exchange that transient maritime cultures generally foster.

In addition to the race, Riley has organized workshops that integrate the efforts of the community into the production of “The Rematch.” Drawings of the zodiac animals by local twelve year-old students have been translated into silk embroideries by local artisans. The embroideries will function as banners on the gondolas and will indicate which zodiac animal is on the gondola.


The Race

The twelve gondolas bearing the live zodiac animals (some animal stand-ins will be necessary, i.e. the dragon) will begin at a leisurely pace and will be split into two different starting lines. They will meet in the middle of the Caogang River and line up side-by-side facing the Fangsheng Bridge. At the start of the race, they will row past Ming and Qing dynasty architecture and continue under the Fangsheng Bridge. This bridge is one of the main areas to watch the race, along with adjacent waterfront restaurants and the boat launch pavilion. The gondolas will continue beyond the bridge where the traditional architecture gives way to demolition and new condominium developments under construction. The rowers will make a loop around a stationary post, then head back to the Fangsheng Bridge. The first to pass any of its arches will be declared the winner.

THE HORSE DECLARED THE WINNER OF THE REMATCH IN ZHUJIAJIAO, CHINA.

On April 16th, 2012 the horse beat out eleven other Chinese zodiac animals to be named the winner of “The Rematch,” a redo of the mythical race. According to mythology, the rat cheated to become the first animal of the Chinese zodiac. Sunday’s race, which took place on the Caogang River in Zhujiajiao, China, set the record straight—even if only in the name of public art, community and spectacle.

The ox came in a very close second place and the monkey came in third place. A video of this “photo finish” can be viewed here.

An awards ceremony took place canal side at the Fengshang Pavilion, where the children who designed the flags and the local embroiderers who stitched them, viewed the race. Prizes and trophies were awarded to the first, second and third place animals/rowers. They posed for photographs with Riley and local dignitaries. As is very important in Chinese culture, a feast with the participants completed the close of “The Rematch.”

Tidbits about “The Rematch” can be found on Twitter: @TheRematchDukeR

Please check out “The Rematch” on Facebook.


Background on the artist, Duke Riley

Since receiving his MFA from Pratt Institute in 2006, Duke Riley has actively exhibited and engaged in performance work. Recent collaborative performances include a St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Havana, Cuba—which was so warmly embraced by the residents of that city that it is now an annual event—and a large-scale, Wagnerian enactment of a sea battle waged in the reflecting pool of Corona Park for the Queens Museum of Art, with the aid of well over a hundred participants.

His collaborations have included building sets and costumes from found materials, which range from things found in nature, such as winter-killed marine grasses, to things that might commonly be found at a local hardware store, such as broom heads, which he used to make the plumes of makeshift gladiator helmets. Related works can be found in a number of private and museum collections.

He is represented by MagnanMetz in New York City. More information is available here.


Commissioned by smARTpower

smARTpower sends 15 U.S. artists abroad to work with local artists and young people around the world to create in situ art projects. Selected artists design and implement programs within a 45 day period in cooperation with local arts organizations in China, Ecuador, Egypt, Ghana, India, Kosovo, Lebanon, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Venezuela.

smARTpower artists are strongly encouraged to create a tangible legacy of the work, to remain in country, through a variety of visual arts media, including painting, sculpture, drawing, video, installation, photo-based work, public art and interdisciplinary projects. Projects emphasize participatory work and address a full range of relevant subjects including, but not limited to, women’s empowerment, the environment, health, education and civic engagement.