Following Yan's residency at CAC in August, an interactive talk between Yan, Nadine Andrews and David Hayley will happen on 20th Oct 2011 at Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester. The event is free but you can book a place at: http://lifefriendlyworkshop.eventbrite.com/.

I've been in London on Tuesday presenting my work with visual artist Chris Drury. I always know Chris' work but after seeing and listening to him, it all clicked and I feel that I can understand his approaches a lot better. Very inspired.

I have just finished editing my latest book Mother • River and sent it to Blurb. It's for my initial journeys to the Yangtze River in China. It's quite a complex book to put together and I've just ordered 3 copies as proofs. The link is below and please give me feedbacks! I'll consider how to make the book better with all the comments and hopefully a proper version will be available soon.

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/1929335/bd3fdc78a1db4fef4b5d1c1deccec159f0854660.

Thanks!

During the journey along the Irwell, I have been reflecting on such practice and trying to seek out some ‘answers’. Then some artists work came as inspirations, the ‘picture’ suddenly became clearer.

The first one is Daniel Staincliffe who has just completed a residency at the Forest of Dean called Fauna Antomana: British Wild Boar, in order to raise public awareness of wild boar.

Then on Thursday Dr. David Haley from MA Art&Environmental at Manchester Metropolitan University came to visit with his colleagues James Brady and Kate Bevan. All of them work in the fields of arts, environment and ecology.

After a chat with them, I realised that my engagement with the environment, or, with the landscape, has always been a metaphysical, or an aesthetic one. I am preoccupied with the ‘representation’ of the landscape and its ‘aesthetic’ value. However the environmental and ecological artists not only see the appearance of an environment, but also work with its function, its physical characters and its physical links with everything else. They actively aim to make a real change. (And the word ‘environment’ and ‘landscape’ really mean two different things!)

This discovery is enlightening. There is value in both approaches, and an artist can work in one or both domains. But it’s better to know the difference.