Asia
Cao Fei
Diversionist
2004
Diversionist
In the series Cosplayers, Cao depicts the popularity among Asian youths of “cosplay” in which daily life is merged with images of video games and popular films. For many, this virtual reality is an outlet to “transcend” the paradox of a developing society in which the pleasures of consumption and depression of alienation go hand-in-hand. Cao sensitively captures the new social consciousness and activism, beautifully translating them into photographic and video works.
Cao Fei is a multimedia artist known for works that focus on the interplay between real and fictional worlds. Working across photography, performance, video, and digital media, her practice vividly reflects the zeitgeist of the late 20th century and the role that image production plays in shaping youth culture in a digital era. Influenced by an array of forms of global pop culture — from Cantonese Pop and Japanese anime to American hip-hop — a common thread in Cao’s practice is the merging of everyday life with new forms of technology as a means to unveil society's unfulfilled desires. Her pivotal film Whose Utopia showcases assembly line workers in a factory in China as they act out their aspirations in a backdrop of industrial machinery. Through constructed worlds, Fei presents a profound meditation on the boundaries between the real and the fantastic and the sense of alienation that drives new generations to increasingly experience the world behind the veneer of their avatars.