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M+ Sigg Collection, Hong Kong. By donation, © Hu Xiangqian
Hu Xiangqian 胡向前
Trend Blindy 隨波逐流
2005
This short video opens with cross-faded shots that convey a vague impression of shapes in unsteady motion. The image gradually clears to reveal models of skyscrapers and small houses, mounted atop Styrofoam bases that float in a loose jumble on Guangzhou’s Zhujiang River. They tilt dizzily and bump into one another with the rise and fall of the waves. The camera, positioned close to the water’s surface, dips up and down as well, creating a sense of unsteadiness emphasised by the sounds of sloshing water. City traffic creates a high, distant hum in the background of the audio track. Behind this miniature floating skyline, the silhouettes of Guangzhou’s towers can be seen on the distant shore, obscured by haze.
Hu Xiangqian made this work while he was a student at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. In juxtaposing the real and miniature cities, he suggests potential questions about the stability (whether physical, economic, or social) of China’s dense and rapidly developing cities. But as with the open-ended quality of Hu’s later work, Trend Blindy avoids heavy-handed commentary, allowing viewers to form multiple interpretations.
Hu Xiangqian made this work while he was a student at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. In juxtaposing the real and miniature cities, he suggests potential questions about the stability (whether physical, economic, or social) of China’s dense and rapidly developing cities. But as with the open-ended quality of Hu’s later work, Trend Blindy avoids heavy-handed commentary, allowing viewers to form multiple interpretations.
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