The digital works in fact are illusions, but they are rooted in someplace such as a screen. The pieces can travel anywhere, which means that a rooted experience can move and grow anywhere in the world.
I installed Echoes from Home in my grandparents’ village in China last year. Where is the place my grandma and my father grow up, I also had memories of this beautiful and traditional place, even if I did not visit often. But now, the place feels like a ghost town. Most people have migrated to nearby cities to find better work and higher salaries. The village remains, even though the people have left. This work somehow reflected my Home piece, because of the strange alien-like appearance of the empty village.
This village used to live around 200 people, but right now only remains about 10, mostly are who are older and have been there for a long time. The architectures will remain for a long time, even though all the people left. This place somehow looks like my home in dislocation, quiet and peaceful. Many of houses are simply overgrown with plants, and the roofs are caving in around the village. Certain villagers told me the stories from the olden times of this place. By hearing these stories, I suddenly felt connected to the history of this place. I saw how it used to be, full of life and love, instead of the abandoned ghost town that it is today. At the precise moment that the villagers were sharing their stories, I suddenly felt that the architecture of the place was alive with a spirit. Therefore, I want to made a work to treat this town and its houses as living spirits, not simply objects without a pulse.