Cantocore; an international exhibition of contemporary Chinese and U.S. art, opening in Guangzhou and San Francisco, fall 2008.

On Art, War, and Dialogue

Lebbeus Woods, the internationally renowned architect is known to have said that Architecture is War. By this he means that in life art and architecture can be understood as a process of making ideas become actual, upsetting the balance, destroying certitude, and reconfiguring power. In terms of architecture, the tangibility of this concept is palpable. Monuments create history, building express philosophies, and nations judges other nations according to their level of development.

More abstractly however, in the arts, the structures of life that undergo reconfiguration are oftentimes much less evident. In this way artists seek to reassert a voice to alternative viewpoints and philosophies, often times on an intimate scale, or on a microscopic level. Together the simplest gestures or ideas can equate to a movement, a revolution. In this way, Cantocore seeks to foment an exchange of new ideas between China and the United States. Specifically, we are targeting San Francisco, due to its cultural and spatial proximity to China, and Guangzhou, due to its emergence as one of the many new Asian art poles. This series of collaborations known as CANTOCORE Signifies the building of a bridge between two distinct yet intertwined worlds. Together this intercultural dialogical bridge will bring the seeds of abstract and alternative thought to their fullest manifestations.

– Justin Hoover - Thoughts on peace, war, and intercultural dialogue

欢迎来到“硬核广州”

硬核广州，一个关于当代中国和美国艺术的国际性展览，于2008年秋季开幕于广州及旧金山。

关于艺术、战争与对话

Lebbeus Woods这位国际著名建筑家因为曾说过建筑是战争而闻名。因此他认为生活中艺术与建筑可以被理解为一个将理想变为现实的过程，这一过程打破着平衡、破坏着真实并且重新配置着权力。就建筑而言，这一理念的确实性是极其明了的。纪念性建筑物引发着历史来历，房屋建筑传达着哲学态度，并且一个民族因为其发展水平而对另外一些民族具有裁判权。

然而更为抽象地，在艺术方面，遭受重配置的生命结构经常是不明显的。在这种情况下，艺术家们对于可选择的观点及哲学，寻求重新主张一种声音。同时最简单的比画或者思想可以等同于一场运动、一场革命。在这种情况下，“硬核广州”尝试、寻求去促进中国与美国间新兴理念交流的可能。具体地我们将目标选定在旧金山是因为其在文化以及空间上接近中国，同时我们选择广州是因为其渐渐已成为众多亚洲新兴艺术区之一。这一系列被称作是“硬核广州”的合作开展，将意味着是这两个不同但却交织在一起的世界间桥梁的建起。同时，这一不同文化间的对话桥梁将使得抽象理论的或者其他可供选择的想法之种子完满盛开。

– Justin Hoover - 关于和平、战争以及不同文化间对话的思考