As the grotto posted, Cantocore Free On Board in SFO is closing on April 18, 2009. That means you still have 18 days to see the show, write reviews, and get into the whole project. Here is more from the announcement:

CANTOCORE: FREE ON BOARD AT MISSION 17 CLOSING PARTY APRIL 18

Cantocore: Free On Board is the second installment of a collaborative project, exploring the globalized conditions of contemporary culture, through an exchange specifically between artists from the San Francisco Bay Area and Guangzhou, China.

The collaboration takes its inspiration and its name, “Cantocore,”from the rapid economic, social, and cultural changes currently taking place in Canton province. Hip Hop is thriving, heavy metal music is blasting, and the art market is booming. Over the last 20 years, cities such as Guangzhou, the capital of Canton, have changed from having a uniquely Chinese culture into global cities influenced and informed by diverse forms of representation. During the same period, Chinese artists also have exerted a growing influence on culture across the globe – and perhaps nowhere more than here on the Pacific rim of California, where Chinese Americans have played a central role since its inception. Art and culture is no longer defined by merely national boundaries – if it ever was – and yet cultural differences persist, providing productive tensions, rich with critical and creative possibilities.

Cantocore works to explore these globalized conditions of contemporary culture and the possibilities they present, by cultivating the dialogue specifically between the Bay Area and Guangzhou. Artists involved in the project include, among others, Americans with roots in China, Chinese who have come to study and work in San Francisco, and Americans who have emigrated to China. The first installment of the project, titled Cantocore: Import / Export, took place in September 2008 at the Ping Pong Space in Guangzhou. Cantocore: Free On Board provides the follow-up response.

What common concerns inform these artists work? How does their art nevertheless read differently across the globe? How do the histories and environments of each city inform the aesthetics of the work produced and presented there; and how does the work transcend its geographic origins, drawing aesthetic and conceptual influence from elsewhere?

This exhibition is a collaboration with The Garage Biennale, The Fabricatorz, and Ping Pong Gallery, China. Participating Artists:JD Beltran, Deer Fang, Wang Ge, Misako Inaoka, David O. Johnson, Guy Overfelt, Jon Phillips, Lin Fang Suo, Zhou Tao, Katherine Worel, Huang Xiaopeng.. Curated by Deer Fang, Justin Hoover, Jon Phillips.

Through April 18. Closing party Saturday, April 18, 5 – 7 pm. 2111 Mission Street, Suite 401, San Francisco 94110. Telephone: 415.861.3144. For more information, see http://www.cantocore.com and http://mission17.org/exhibits/upcoming.htm

Tanner Menard looked at the Cantocore project from a distance stating:

I have been reading about Cantocore for a number of days totally obsessed by the complexity of the concepts presented on its site http://cantocore.com/, but it was not until I read the following statement that I was really sold on the idea; ‘Cantocore is the reality of life versus the theory set forth by jurisdictions where people live.’ As an artists who’s personal world view leans towards ontological anarchy, this statement elevates Cantocore from a link on Jon Phillip’s website to the top of the bookmark list on my favorite web browser.

I then waxed poetic about it on my website stating:

When people ask me to explain what exactly Cantocore is, I often dance around the similarities between Guangzhou and San Francisco. Both are at the far extremes from the political centers of power in China and the United States respectively. I also usually talk about the lifestyle of lowered barriers of the 3 P’s: property, privacy, and prices. These combined increase one’s state, or feeling of, personal freedom. However, this concept of the reality of life versus the theory set forth explains exactly how I feel about Cantocore: Just do it! Don’t have a meeting. Don’t make a committee. Don’t whine. Just make your project wherever you are at with what resources you have. Get it off the ground and sort out the pieces as you go.

Please check out the full text of both Tanner’s post and my re-follow-up. Please consider adding your own thoughts as your own review out there on your site, or feel free to blog here or in the comments on this site. We are eager to hear what you think about Cantocore and the latest show on in San Francisco until April 18, Cantocore Free On Board.

Come this Saturday, February 28, 4-6pm to Mission17 and join us for drinks and conversation! This program is free and open to the public.

Artists JD Beltran, David Johnson, Guy Overfelt, Jon Phillips, and Kathrine Worel will discuss contemporary art production in the decentralized global economy, with specific emphasis on connections to the conceptual framwork, Cantocore. The discussion will be moderated by curator/artist Justin Hoover.

Please RSVP on the facebook event page.

Cantocore: Free On Board is the second installment of a collaborative project between select artists from San Francisco and Guangzhou, China: David O. Johnson, Fang Lu 方璐, Guy Overfelt, Huang Xiaopeng 黄小鹏, JD Beltran, Jon Phillips, Justin Hoover, Kathrine Worel, Lin Fang Suo 林芳所, Misako Inaoka, Wang Ge 王铬, and Zhou Tao 周滔. The first Cantocore exhibition related import and export of culture between San Francisco and Guangzhou. For Cantocore: Free On Board, some part of each piece from the first show has been shipped from Guangzhou to San Francisco. Cantocore: Free On Board is an unveiling of the artists reactivated and reformatted works for the gallery, Mission 17, in San Francisco.

The collaboration, “Cantocore,” takes its inspiration and name from the rapid economic, social, and cultural changes taking place in Guangzhou, the third most populous city in China. Even in the midst of economic crises, factories are producing, Canto hip-hop is blasting, and the cultural industries are progressing. Over the last 30 years cities such as Guangzhou, the capital of Canton, have rapidly expanded economically and socially. From revolutionary upheavals to becoming industrialized global cities influenced and informed by diverse forms of representation, Chinese artists have exerted a growing influence on culture globally. Perhaps nowhere more than here on the Pacific rim of California have Chinese-Americans, who primarily immigrated from Southern China, played such a crucial role in the state’s inception, particularly in San Francisco. Not only does this city have the largest import of Chinese people of any US city, these immigrants also created the largest Chinatown in North America. However, understanding the conceptual framework of Cantocore is not limited to geographic divisions, nor reductive dichotomies driven by post-colonial stereotypes such as East versus West or Olympic nationalisms. Cantocore is the reality of life versus the theory set forth by jurisdictions where people live.

For Cantocore: Free On Board, the project uses the shipping jargon “free,” or “freight on board.” This technically means the exporter pays for materials being loaded to ship and the rest of a shipment is paid for upon arrival by the importer. In fact, parts of all artwork for this show have been in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with other “Made in China” freight on board destined for San Francisco at some time. In transit, these objects were locked down as cultural artifacts, stored in a type of stasis until arrival. During this time, the concepts and plans for these pieces were in constant motion with the curators and artists. In shipment, cargo is stored potential energy. It is the physical manifestation of aggressive growth and development in China and the buying power of the United States in the midst of economic rebalancing. It is here in-transit, on these cargo ships that these artifacts are free from consumption and production. It is only when they arrive at their destination, Mission 17 in San Francisco, that they are reactivated as cultural objects, connecting with their planned conceptual trajectory.

Cantocore: Free On Board explores this reactivation and reformatting of works, furthering the dialogue between San Francisco and Guangzhou. Artists involved include Americans with roots in China, Chinese who have come to study and work in San Francisco, and Americans who have emigrated to China. Other artists employed Chinese products and fabrication methods to construct their projects and some Chinese artists examined American ideology. The first installment of the project, titled Cantocore: Import/Export, took place in September 2008 at the Ping Pong Space in Guangzhou. Cantocore: Free On Board is the follow-up response.

NOTE: I wrote this to explain “Cantocore” and “Free On Board for the new show context. I originally wrote this on the project wiki. If you’d like to translate this into Chinese or another language, please do on the wiki. This text is also on the about page, along with the original Cantocore: Import/Export text and Woo Jay’s “Reconsidering Daily Experience” piece about the project.

Cantocore Home Concert Preview is coming up next Wednesday July 23rd. Right now our RSVP deadline for this event is extended to Monday, July 21st. And tickets are on sale right now for $50 USD! All money goes to the production of the Cantocore exhibition in Guangzhou and San Francisco. And, all contributions will be rewarded with praise, promotion in printed materials and on this website.

This event is a preview of the coming exhibitions, and also a home concert featuring Chinese traditional instrument musician Ma Jie and electronic musician Christopher Willits.

To reserve your tickets please do one of the following:

Call Justin at 415-425-1647
Email: jhoover.charles@gmail.com
Or use Paypal option

“硬核广州”预展：预定时间延长并且入场券在售中！

硬核广州预展音乐会在下周三即7月23日就要到来了。现在我们这次预展音乐会的预定截止时间已经延伸至周一即7月21日。并且从现在开始出售入场券，价格为50美元。所有收入都将用来制作这次在广州和旧金山的硬核广州展览。并且，所有的捐款、贡献将通过印刷品以及本网站予以感谢及发扬。
这场音乐会是即将来临的展览会的一个预展，同时也是由中国传统乐器音乐家Ma Jie及电子音乐家Christopher Willits为主的一场本土音乐会。

您可以通过以下任一方式预定入场券：

电话至Justin: 415-425-1647
邮件至: jhoover.charles@gmail.com

或者通过Paypal支付