This morning I attended the preview for the Hayward Gallery’s new exhibition Art of Change: New Directions from China, which opens on Friday.

The exhibition shows performance art or installations by eight contemporary Chinese artists on the theme of change.

Art of Change is certainly one of the most unusual and interactive shows I’ve seen at the Hayward Gallery. All the works are in a state of change, allowing the artists to explore notions of impermanence and transformation.

The first installation is a piece of gym equipment which you can move yourself via remote control. In the next room, a performer tucks herself into a sleeping bag on a shelf, while another pokes her head through a shelf.

It soon became clear that we were not alone – striped pyjama-clad performers were silently following some of us around the gallery, stopping patiently when we paused to read, and following quickly when we changed direction.

The real “wow” moments for me are Xu Zhen’s In Just a Blink of an Eye, where a person seemingly floats in mid-air. This was the one that got people talking – “is it a real person,” “how do they do that?” It is a real person, although I didn’t see him blink or even breathe.

Liang Shaoji’s Nature Series is another highlight: a room full of items around which silkworms have spun their cocoons, from giant chains to tiny bed wire bed frame. There’s also a darkened room where you can sit on a cushion and “listen to zen,” the sound of silkworms eating and spinning. You even see live silkworms in the next room.

The upper and lower galleries have a more sombre tone. Here you can see a room of work by controversial duo Peng Yu and Sun Yuan, including a four metre tall tower made of human fat siphoned off during liposuction, and a room of objects covered in mud by the late Chen Zhen.

There’s also a digital archive where you can find out more about each of the artists in the exhibition, and about the development of installation and performance art in China from 1979 to the present.

Art of Change: New Directions from China is at the Hayward Gallery from 7 September to 9 December 2012

Visit London was allowed a sneak preview of this year’s Summer Exhibition at London’s Royal Academy of Arts. It certainly is an impressive display of some of the best in contemporary art.

While work by David Hockney and Tracey Emin is a major draw and rightly so, the most impressive work is arguably by some lesser-known artists.

The theme of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2010 is “raw” and that’s certainly conveyed in the paintings. Bright colours, in particular a burning orange, dominate much of the work.

The notion of raw is also transferred in sculptural form with David Mach’s Silver Streak, an imposing ten-foot tall gorilla made from coat hangers dominating Gallery VII.

If contemporary art is not your thing, head to the Lecture Room where drafts and models by some of the World’s most influential architects are shown. It’s worth looking to find the next Gherkin, The O2 or Millennium Bridge, arguably some of London’s most treasured landmarks.

If you’ve never been before, now’s an excellent time to visit the Victoria Miro gallery. A little off the beaten track, but more than worth the effort, this bright and airy space is one of the largest and most interesting commercial art galleries in London.

Designed specifically for the Victoria Miro, The Walthamstow Tapestry is maverick potter Grayson Perry’s largest work to date. Three metres high by fifteen metres long, the tapestry is shown with a number of new ceramic works – which I think are extraordinary. How anyone can pack so much information, imagery, attitude and beauty into the surface of a gentle ceramic is a total wonder.

The tapestry explores the insane, quasi-religious adoration of consumerism and is vibrant and colourful. Apparently, Grayson was inspired by antique batik fabrics from Malaysia and eastern European folk art. The work is busy with depictions of people doing ordinary things – shopping, ironing, walking the dog etc. and almost every inch of the tapestry is devoted to brands. At Victoria Miro until 7 November 2009.

Grayson Perry will be talking to Will Self about his work and influences at the British Library on 9 November. For booking details, please visit the British Library’s website.

If you’re into contemporary art, you’ll definitely want to see Tate Modern‘s new exhibition, Pop Life: Art in a Material World.

The show features work by many groundbreaking artists, including Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Keith Haring and Jeff Koons.

Across 17 rooms, Pop Life charts the way that artists have embraced commerce and celebrity in an increasingly multi-media world.

The show starts with a look at the work of Andy Warhol, who once proclaimed, “Good business is the best art.”

Warhol sold his services as a portrait artist for a fixed fee, and you can see his paintings of celebrities such as Mick Jagger, David Hockney and Grace Jones.

Other items on show include copies of Warhol’s Interview magazine, advertising images, videos of the artist and friends in the Factory studio, and wallpaper covered with pictures of Warhol’s face.

In the following rooms, you’ll see the work of a new generation of artists, who followed in Warhol’s footsteps and became part of mass media culture.

One highlight is a recreation of Keith Haring’s Pop Shop, which originally opened in New York in 1986.

The shop has been faithfully reconstructed at Tate Modern, complete with black and white patterned walls and 80s house music. You can even buy Haring’s sew-on patches, badges and t-shirts from a hatch in the wall, manned by staff from the Tate shop.

Other must-see exhibits include:

• Damien Hirst’s glittering Memories of / Moments with You, made from gold and diamonds
• A metalic bronze room containing the work of Pruitt Early (Rob Pruitt and Jack Early), whose work explores popular conceptions of race and adolescence
• Images of artist and porn star Cosey Fanni Tutti, whose exhibition at the ICA was taken down after people complained about the adult content
• A gallery dedicated to the Young British Artists, including items from Tracey Emin and Sarah Lucus’s shop in Bethnal Green, East London

Allow a few hours to walk around the entire exhibition, and prepare to be starstruck!

Pop Life: Art in a Material World opens at Tate Modern on 1 October.