Cao Fei on ‘truth’, utopia and pre-internet nostalgia

For our digital series, we spoke to artist Cao Fei about ‘truth,’ her early encounter with the internet and why we suffer from pre-internet nostalgia.

Can you tell us about your first impression and experience with the internet?

I still remember the first time, it’s probably in the late 1990s. Back then the internet was very limited, it’s not like today’s internet. What’s very interesting is that I still remember the first time I set up my email account and sent my first email. This [email] has definitely brought drastic changes to both life and work. The first time I used email, marks the beginning of my career. Back then in the late 1990s, search engines were not as important as emails so, I want to stress that email has brought a profound influence to my initial creating period and it symbolises globalisation.

When and what made you lean towards multimedia and incorporate technology into your work?

In the very beginning of my art career, the internet didn’t play a significant role, but it did in 2006 when I created my work on Second Life. In that work we established a virtual platform (integrated life) allowing users to make friends, enjoy leisurely activities, to create or do creative work. Through this, it made me realise that internet embraced every aspect of our life – you can even do currency transfers and transactions on the internet. That was the moment I realised that I had a different understanding of the internet and was the beginning.

Has your relationship and understanding of the internet or the ‘modern’ world evolved since?

When I was creating my work about Second Life, I took it as a sort of symbol to represent the future ways of living. Actually, this way of living has been validated in today’s world because look at today, it’s internet-dominated right? We can do everything with internet. That’s why in 2006, I was so inspired by this kind of symbol, this kind of sign. Then again, I created my work RMB City: A Second Life City Planning by China Tracy (2007) and through it, you can see a new town established, new ways of life have been created, a new life space.

You draw references from a wide range of sources (cinema, manga, advertising, theatre). What about these attract you?

1978, the year when I was born, was a significant year for the Chinese people. It marked the end of the cultural revolution, as well as the state marking the beginning of our country opening up and reform. After 1978, we had access to Western movies, music, advertisements, pop culture, manga like a flood. There was a huge influx of these mediums from the West to mainland China and this momentum has been kept until the millennium. So for me, it really symbolises a process from nothing to something and this marked or exerted a very important effect on my growth. That’s why I use those sources and I try to integrate these elements as I regard them as a symbol.

Your work often discusses opposing themes of reality and utopia. How do you find a balance between the two?

I think right now, to me, it’s like two different types of social values that are being recognised by our societies in parallel. That’s why now I mix or integrate realism and virtual reality or in other words, dream in my work.

Do you think that the perspectives on reality and utopia differ from the East and West?

From the perspective of humanity, no. However, from the perspective on culture, I think indeed. Guangzhou in South China where I live, people have a very strong desire for social cliches. The life there is lead by realism or realism-dominant. This is why you see a lot of people that make their living by starting a business, others go to the United States to open restaurants in Chinatown and we don’t have as many Chinese academics or philosophers or artists living in my region. This background reflects how realism has played an important role in people’s steady life, but perhaps this also has something to do with the social systems here.

The factory workers depicted in your earlier work also titled ‘My Future is not a Dream,’ would their dreams have changed now?

This phrase “my future is not a dream” is the name of the song that is popular among the Chinese migrant workers because it’s encouraging and inspiring to them. By singing this song, it makes the workers believe that they might be able to realise their dream. This somehow reflects the concept of utopia, which means that you can pursue your aspiration, pursue your dream even if you cannot realise it in reality.

People can feel nostalgic about the pre-internet period. Could life really have been better as we imagine?

I completely agree with you that sometimes my people have nostalgia about the pre-internet period, but take a look back in the past one to two years. The pandemic has made people feel more isolated or lonelier compared to the past and accelerated the use of internet to use it for work, to live a life, or spend their leisure time online. But frankly, we’re human beings, we prefer to live together, we’re a group animals. So, why do I think people have nostalgia for pre-internet, the past culture, past fashion? Why do people begin to judge our current society and miss the past? I think it all has to do with the overload of internet. I would like to put this question in my work to let people reflect on it such as in my work RMB City. This is a question for everybody – is there really a channel from cyberspace to utopia?

The topic of our new issue is ‘truth’. What does it mean to you?

I’d like to bring both truth and reality. To me, the two things are not fixed. They are existing relatively. That’s why in my work, I have created so many virtual communities because my intention is to create another type of truth. I want to use my work to reflect that people are not satisfied with the current truth. This includes the internet and their real life in society. By creating a new reality in this virtual reality, I want to bring the super reality into my work to surpass our current living space and create another kind of new perception of truth.

My Future is not a Dream is currently exhibiting at Espace Louis Vuitton in Munich until 09.01.2022.