Art Attack: Internet Loneliness, Brazilian Docs and Green Shorts

OK, which of you out there have managed to watch both Batman and Spiderman this week? Which was better? Weigh in below. For the higher of brow, the weekend’s packed with Brazilian documentaries, exhibits of Penguin’s cover designs and … luxury watches?

Audemars Piguet hosts a short exhibit at the UCCA celebrating 40 years of the brand’s designs in luxury watches. Purists can start railing about the prostitution of artists and our art spaces, blah blah blah. The rest of you can go enjoy the rarefied objects on display.

The Brazilian documentary festival known as DocBrazil also takes place this weekend. Check out more details at www.docbrazilfestival.com.

Environmentalist cinephiles can catch Greenpeace short films at The Hutong on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, author Janusz Wisniewski talks about how connectedness has us all feeling pretty disconnected in his novel, Loneliness on the Net.

On Wednesday, Green T. House Living is hosting an Art & Wine Tasting event at their gallery out in Shunyi. It'll be a great excuse to get away from the city for a night, with free entry and roses and rieslings for the tasting.

Finally, this weekend's your last chance to catch the hilarious cartoony paintings by New Pants lead singer, Peng Lei. His exhibit at the Modern Sky Studios at Pingod ends this Sunday.

And as usual, there are plenty of film screenings, new art exhibits opening up (check out the photos at new Yunnan restaurant Southern Barbarian) and more, with all the details below.

Have fun.

EVENTS

Sep 1-2
Film Festival: DocBrazil
From matriarchal societies to the worldwide spread of capoeira, dive into Brazilian culture through documentary film, workshops, exhibits and more. Free. For details and venue information, see www.docbrazilfestival.com.

Royal Oak 40 Years: From Avant-Garde to Icon
Watchmakers Audemars Piguet celebrate 40 years with an amalgam of modern art, rare memorabilia and new designs. Free. UCCA (8459 9269)

Sep 3
Film: Coffy
Pam Grier kicks ass as a vengeful nurse in this ’70s blaxploitation classic. Free. 8pm. Dada (137 6495 1613)

Sep 4
Book Talk: Janusz Leon Wisniewski
His bestselling novel, Loneliness on the Net, shows us how love and isolation persist in the Internet age. RMB 30, RMB 20 (members). 7.30pm. The Bookworm (6503 2050)

Greenpeace Shorts
If the world’s not ending after all, maybe we shouldn’t let it go to crap. Start with these environmental films and discussions. RMB 30. 7.30pm. The Hutong (6404 3355)

Sep 5
Art & Wine Tasting
New works by Qu Qianmei alongside summertime roses and rieslings provided by ASC Fine Wines. Restaurant week set dinner will also be available for RMB 248. Free. 7-9pm. Green T. House Living (8456 4922)

Film: 24 Hour Party People
Relive the Olympics with this tribute to Manchester’s Factory Records community. RMB 40 (includes coffee or tea), 7.30pm. Riverbank Bar and Café (6506 8277)

Sep 7
Brazil Through Cinema: City of God
Broaden your understanding of Rio de Janeiro before the 2016 Olympic Games with this award-winning film about organized crime in the city’s suburbs. RMB 35. 7.30-9.30pm. Culture Yard (8404 4166)

EXHIBITS OPENING:

Fourth Annual Park Fine Art Tour
Sep 1-9. Sixty artists from three continents will exhibit in this show that travels through Beijing, Seoul, Istanbul and Albu¬querque. Free. Hanyan Gallery (6959 2209)

He Xiangyu
Sep1-Nov 11. No title, no details save a miniature silicone self-sculpture and a promise that the artist is turning himself into a viewer. Free. White Space Beijing (8456 2054)

Yang Jian: Simple Mechanical
Sep 1-Nov 11. Video and installation art focusing on themes of elapsed time and destruction. Free. White Space Beijing (8456 2054)

Huang Qingjun: Belongings
Sep 2-30. A photojournalist captures people from all over China standing outside their homes with the entirety of their belongings, in a stark yet fresh look at the “have-nots.” Free. Southern Barbarian (6401 3318)

LAST CALLS:

Peng Lei: Savage
Until Sep 2. Besides making films and singing with his band New Pants, Peng Lei also likes to paint amusing images of ducks and mice acting like humans. Free. ModernSky Lab (6847 5087)

Photo: Stuffwelike.com