Collection Online
Search the Collection 搜索M+藏品
M+ Sigg Collection, Hong Kong. By donation, © Cao Kai
On View
Mediatheque
Cao Kai 曹愷
Summer of 1969 六九年之夏
2001–2011
In this work, Cao Kai stitches together archival video footage from a wide range of sources. Images of happy crowds at rock concerts in the West are interspersed with footage of crowds from the Cultural Revolution period in China. This video collage is set to a live recording of the 1985 hit song Summer of ’69 by Bryan Adams, which celebrates the rebellious spirit and social freedoms of 1960s American youth culture. As the sequence continues, the joyful imagery is tempered by footage of student protests, civil rights marches, anti–Vietnam War demonstrations, and military and police actions—before closing with atomic mushroom clouds superimposed over the smiling face of an infant.
With this complex mix of visuals depicting transformative events of the mid-twentieth century, the work evokes the parallels and tensions in popular culture and politics—highlighting how mass enthusiasm can be mobilised to drastically different ends. In titles at the beginning of the work, the artist—who was born in 1969—states that he felt he had been ‘sleeping behind that iron red curtain’ until he was awoken by a cacophony of change in both East and West. Summer of 1969 is thus both an exploration of political cultures and Cao’s personal reflection on growing up in an era of cultural transformation.
With this complex mix of visuals depicting transformative events of the mid-twentieth century, the work evokes the parallels and tensions in popular culture and politics—highlighting how mass enthusiasm can be mobilised to drastically different ends. In titles at the beginning of the work, the artist—who was born in 1969—states that he felt he had been ‘sleeping behind that iron red curtain’ until he was awoken by a cacophony of change in both East and West. Summer of 1969 is thus both an exploration of political cultures and Cao’s personal reflection on growing up in an era of cultural transformation.
Loading