Whose Utopia

  • 2006
  • Cao Fei
  • Video, colour, sound
  • 20 min

The first part, which focuses on the working conditions of young workers, is followed by a sequence in which some of the employees enact their dreams: to be a rock musician, ballerina, feng shui master and so on. The video concludes with shots of workers, back in reality, wearing white t-shirts that bear the ambiguous slogan "My Future is Not a Dream” in Cantonese.

© Cao Fei. Photo © Fondation Louis Vuitton / Martin Argyroglo © Cao Fei. Photo © Fondation Louis Vuitton / Martin Argyroglo

Cao Fei

Inspired by popular and traditional sources – film, advertising, manga, theatre – Cao Fei makes videos and multimedia installations that explore relations between the real world, a collective utopia and the personal aspirations of a young Chinese generation immersed in a new culture, marked by the economic boom and growing access to the Internet.

In 2007 she began working with Second Life, a virtual platform created in 2003, through her avatar China Tracy, within an environment of symbolic, everyday objects, both Chinese and international. “Second Life is not just a work of art, it has become a meeting place for different spiritual areas of our lives,” explains the artist.

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