Brushes Are the Swords and the Mind is the Battlefield at Art Battle Beijing

The prospect of watching paint dry may not be the most thrilling of Sunday endeavors but this weekend the organizers of Art Battle hope to put a new spin on an activity synonymous with the excruciatingly dull. In order to do so, they've recruited 12 budding Beijing creatives to test their artistic wit against each other in several timed trails conducted in a face-off type showdown.

This Sunday, Feb 24, Yue Space will be transformed into a veritable coliseum of color, a mess of matte, and a hotbed for unadulterated artistic expression as the painters slog it out in a head-to-head fight against each other and the clock. At the end of three rounds of 20 minutes of live painting, the audience will decide via WeChat which painter deserves to be crowned king of the canvas. The works will then be auctioned off as memorabilia for the event and a small slice of Beijing art history.

Beforehand we had a chance to speak with the official China and HK representatives for Art Battle International Matthew Byrne, founder and director of Spittoon, and Tomas Pinheiro, managing editor of Shanghai-based art collective Shanghai Madness.

What in the world is an Art Battle International and why?
Tomas Pinheiro: Art Battle International is a global live painting competition present in more than 60 cities and with more than 1,000 events completed. Try to imagine the Fifa World Cup, but for live painting. All events are connected, winners advance from local to national and international levels. At the end of the year, there is only one global champion. 

For each event, we have 12 artists and three rounds of 20 minutes live painting: six artists in the first round, another six in the second, and a final round between the two winners of each round. The audience votes on WeChat for their favorite for each round, including the final champion. In the end, all 16 paintings are sold in a final auction. 

Art Battle International is a fun experience: fast, interactive, dynamic, not to mention visually fascinating. It is also a chance for the audience to see the artistic process. And for the artists, it is a platform for visibility.

Who will be judging these fine artists in their road to paint-spattered glory?
Matthew Byrne: The judges are the people! After each round, the audience scans a special QR code which will allow them to vote for their favorite painter. I think this is an excellent way to bring the audience in and to remove some of the pressure of having a small panel of judges deciding about winners for each round.

Given that this is a competition among Beijing-based artists, do you think we’ll see certain shared themes or styles crop up in their work?
Byrne: Definitely. Or let’s hope so – I think it would be interesting. It suits the nomadic nature of the competition as it visits different cities, possibly reflecting the flavor and feeling of each. The obvious themes may be typical to various Beijing stereotypes – words like pollution spring to mind – maybe depictions of our favorite areas, etc. But I have no doubt that we’ll be surprised by some the of interpretations that our artists create during the event!

If I’m not mistaken, this is the third Art Battle International that has taken place in China, with previous events having been held in Chengdu and Shanghai. Were there any big surprises in those previous editions?
Pinheiro: In fact, this will be the fourth Art Battle International competition in China. Two in Shanghai and one in Chengdu. The first event in Shanghai was a surprise itself as we did not expect such a great response from the audience and painters! It was such a fun experience for everyone involved so we decided to continue in a more professional way. For this event, we had one of the artists using her body to paint the canvas. This was an unexpected performance. Then we had the Chengdu battle, held in the middle of a tattoo conference – we all got tattoos (not matching!). A lot of the artists were also tattooers so we had interesting results.

The second one in Shanghai was organized in collaboration with the denim brand Levi’s. We had customized Levi’s T-shirts given to the audience and even a white plain room for the audience to also paint the walls. There is always awesome DJs and drinks in each event, we worked with DJ Lev Zep and DJ TOY before.

Other than the battle itself will there be any other entertainment on the day?
Byrne: Oh yes! The DJ stylings of Bass Ventura and Chloe will serenade us during the duration of the competition. Mr. Ventura (Dan Rothwell) has assured me that it's going to be a sequence of music to remember, with a few added surprises during the course of the competition. We’re also going to have some great live music to round off the night with Spittoon’s own Spittunes (poetry and music) project providing us with the musical partnership of Bond & Byrne with Spanish poet Jaime Santirso reading accompanying spontaneous prose. The headlining band is Paths, a band with yours truly as a member – we’re going to bring the concept of ‘battle’ into the musical theater. Oh yes!

Finally, in the interest of imagined and completely hypothetical art battles through history, who would win in a bare-chested Greco-Romans wrestling match between Jackson Pollock and Van Gogh?
Byrne: There would be no winners. Only losers.

Art Battle will take place at Yue Space on Sunday, Feb 24, 2-6pm. Tickets cost RMB 100 on the door or RMB 80 advance. For tickets and more information, click here.

Feeling inspired? Atelier is hosting a life drawing class at 7.30pm tonight, get to it!

Images: playbuzz.com, 子弹, 仲敏中