Celebrating Everyday with Ease

The rapid progress of Chinese urbanisation gives people a common feeling of alienation in the society. I highlight the negative impact of urbanisation in the modern life of Chinese first-tier cities through my work series Celebrating Everyday with Ease, defying dishonesty and materialism lying in the cities. The Swedish brand IKEA embodies “wonderful life.” It provides its guests mock-up living spaces to experience “the wonder,” but those amazing rooms and spaces also illustrate the loneliness, alienation, anxiety, and a sense of losing control in modern society. The commonly-seen yet absurd visual language forms slim boundary between reality and illusion, reflecting compromise and confusion people of this generation bear insofar as the enriching of material life along with the withering of spiritual life in a less straightforward manner. Applying the viewpoint of an observer, I took secret shots with my smart phone at shopping malls. The smart phone thus became a medium to transmit and embody ideas. According to Lippmann, we live in a fictional world woven by different mediums, and the reality we believe in are only valid in accordance with the rationale of mediums. As for my works and their connotations, I attempted to explore the dual qualities of life – the wonderful and the real one – so I chose the “red dots” commonly used to indicate selling status in the art market to bridge materials and civilisation. Moreover, I went further to discuss the relationships between people and our ties with materials and objects, forcing viewers to look straight to the existing issues in the society.

How can art catalyze change?:
Starting from my work, I hope that through the images, I can awaken society’s identification with this ethnic group, eliminate opposition and criticism, and build an ideal society of mutual assistance and love.