Come and get lost with me ---- China Tracy (Cao Fei)

I often think of Chinese young generation (from late 70s to late 90s, maybe even to the present) a lost generation. As the Chinese economy is growing so rapidly, the importance of synchronously spiritual growth of the Chinese people is completely ignored. The sole pursuit of money and success dominated Chinese people's life, so much so that money and success became the icon of the whole nation.

Living in a society full of bubbles of illusion of money and success, lacking of or without any trace of spiritual provision, the young generation has no means to find their individual identity. Without substantial success in reality, they struggle to find a place in reality for themselves, for their souls, thoughts, or emotions. We all become lonely individuals, lost and are searching in our own fantasy an answer we do not even know.

That's why in my opinion the Chinese artist Cao Fei created herself as China Tracy in the virtual world Second Life to experience different life styles, to give a vent for the emotions she has in real life, to give them a chance to explode. She herself represents millions of other contemporaneous Chinese people who are still struggling in reality; in the darkness of a soulless land.

i.Mirror by China Tracy (AKA: Cao Fei) Second Life Documentary Film
Cao Fei (Chinese, born 1978)

This is a picture captured from the video. If you are interested, I recommend you watch the whole video on youtube. Here are the links: i. Mirror Part 1 i. Mirror Part 2 i. Mirror Part 3

I personally don't think foreigners, especially westerners, will be able to understand very much about her illusionary piece of mind and her lonely soul filled with emotional chaos without fully understanding Chinese culture and the state of all aspects of the whole nation. For Chinese young generation, it's so easy to feel the lost, hurtful, and lonely sentiments from the video. For westerners, they mostly comment that the video is romantic and beautiful. However, that's not what I feel the most. Maybe there is a so-called romance in it, especially with the sentimental music. But deep down it is the only way, or almost the only way to feel strongly one's existence in reality, a way to find oneself; although all of it is built on an illusion. In the end, the question was not answered, the lost is still lost. It did not show the audience a hopeful message like some westerners commented, simply because the purpose of the video is NOT to show any hopefulness.

The following pictures are from her website caofei.com

Whose Utopia, Video 2006

Cosplayers / 2004