A Perspective on the Reality of China
Within the last two hundred years, development of the human material civilization has far exceeded what has been accumulated over the past two thousand years. In the span of two hundred years, we have gone through two thousand years' time. One word -- fast. At least in contemporary China, everything is fast to the point of leaving behind our souls.
But life has a time limit. The lifespan of the Earth may be shockingly long, but it too will age and decay one day. The history of mankind has been nothing more than an incline. The road to the summit is staggeringly slow. But once we cross over the ridge pass, the speed of descent is accompanied by acceleration. Human society is already on its way down.
On another level, mankind's spiritual needs doubtlessly require time and space of ease in order to reach satisfaction and fullness. This is contradictory to speed. This disjunction between the spirit and the material is the reality of China. Under extreme disjunction, conflicts arise, and harmony is nowhere to be seen. Indeed, over the last two hundred years, human philosophy and art have done nothing but pick up leftovers of ancient wisdom in a flustered attempt to deal with the fast-changing reality.
When one walks too fast, one is prone to falling. Why not take a break to look at the scenery behind and clarify the veins of the path forward.
These five photographers come from Singapore and China. They each have different backgrounds and professions. Yet they share a common interest in travels and stopovers around China. Through the medium of traditional photography, they observe different aspects of reality. They observe the increasing separation and confrontation between classes. They observe human existence under the disjunction between the spirit and the material. Their images are full of tender concern, attempting to seek a spiritual exit within the background reality of China. Their works are either loosely organized observations, or in-depth explorations into a particular group or geographic region. No matter what impact these images may have in real life, they are expressions of the photographers' inner world, and are thus of paramount importance in their spirit and consciousness.
"Travels and Stopovers" is a perspective on the reality of China.
