Academy Caochangdi

Academy Caochangdi, (2012) is a silent, 65-minute film comprised of a series long takes of a flooded side street in Caochangdi, a village in the north of Beijing. Caochangdi is undergoing considerable changes due to its recent designation as an official ‘art zone,’ with newly constructed gallery compounds, artist residencies and restaurants. The side street in the film is located in a gated, gallery compound where artists Armstrong and Collins spent a two-month residency in 2011. At the end of the street in the film, is a wall belonging to the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre and Ai Wei Wei’s compound.