Night Wander I by Li Chen

NIGHT WANDER I 2023, Filmfoto Work by Li Chen

CONTENT INTRODUCTION ······························· 3 SPATIAL PRESENTATION ·················· 4 - 5 IMAGES & WRITING • Chapter 1 ··································· 8 - 13 • Chapter 2 ··································· 14 - 19 • Chapter 3 ··································· 20 - 25 • Chapter 4 ··································· 26 - 31 • Chapter 5 ··································· 32 - 37 • Chapter 6 ··································· 38 - 43 • Chapter 7 ··································· 44 - 49

Night Wander I by Li Chen

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INTRODUCTION

Night Wander is a seven-chapter lmfoto work. The images were photographed near my apartment in a suburban new city of Shanghai from 2021 to 2023, a time in uenced by the Zero-COVID policy. The text results from writing with the images, and are based on my memories and imaginaries.

The work will be projected across ve screens, each showing one image or text. Each chapter lasts for two minutes for watching and reading. All seven chapters will be displayed one after the other in a continuous loop.

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Watch video documentation: https://vimeo.com/912170719 Password: filmfoto

Night Wander I by Li Chen

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SPATIAL PRESENTATION Dimension: 5m x 2.5m Material: five video projections in Li Chen’s solo exhibition Haunting Artificial Landscape ACENTRICSPACE, Shanghai. 3 -19 Dec, 2023

Night Wander I by Li Chen

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Night Wander I by Li Chen

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IMAGES & WRITING

Night Wander I by Li Chen

1 Shall we start over? He asks. Finally, he got a divorce.

His words stir a mix of feelings, although I thought I love him no more.

What if we can make things right, as I wished before?

We move to a suburban new city. From time to time, he is away for business trips.

Dark windows, drowsy security guard. The residential compound is unbearable in the evening. I leave home and begin to wander in the night.

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Night Wander I by Li Chen

再给一次机会好吗？他说，他终于离婚了。 他的话搅起复杂的情绪。尽管，我以为自己不再爱他。 如果我们能好好重头来过呢？就像我曾经愿望的那样。 我们一起搬到了新城。他依然常常出差。 无光的窗户，瞌睡的保安，让小区在天黑后变得难以忍受。 他不在的日子里，我开始离家，走入夜晚。

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2 She has spent more than half of her life with him.

They have two children. The daughter was married off. The son lived with them until the demolition of their village. The government gave them two apartments and city-hukou as compensation for taking their house and farming land.

With granted urban rights, she still manages to continue her old daily routine. Grow vegetables in the empty land before new constructions start. Enjoy the cool outdoors on summer nights while watch videos on a smart phone. Be a silent companion for her husband.

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她与他生活了大半辈子，生了两个儿女。 女儿嫁到镇上去了。在村子拆迁前，儿子都和他们夫妻住在一 起。政府给她家两套房和城镇户口，作为收回宅基地和耕地的 补偿。 即便成为城市人，她依然继续她的日常。白天到还没开工的荒 地里种菜。在夜里到户外乘凉。一边在手机上看视频，一边沉 默地陪伴她的丈夫。

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3 I grew up in a city with no history.

Your father liked riding around with his motorcycle, mother told me.

He was excited about all the new developments.

Back then I was too young. I remember nothing but the smell of dusty air and the heat from my father’s motorcycle exhaust pipe.

Constructions. Promises for the future. Claimed to be better than the past.

Why are you so sure about the comparison? You forgot the past already, so eagerly.

The little girl wished she could see the ghost. She wanted to ask the ghost to tell her a story of the past. Once, she woke at midnight and saw a lady in white standing by her bed. Their eyes met for a second before the girl blinked.

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Night Wander I by Li Chen

我在没有历史的另一座新城长大。 妈妈说，以前爸爸最喜欢骑着摩托车到处看。 那时我太小了。不记得那座新城是如何建起来的，只记得空气 中总有扬尘的味道，和爸爸的摩托车排气管喷出尾气的热度。 新建设带着对于未来的许诺。未来的一切都会比过去好。 但如果不知道过去，凭什么说未来会比过去好呢？ 小时候我希望自己看见鬼魂，好请他们告诉我过去发生的故 事。一天半夜醒来，我看到了一个白衣女子站在我床边，我眨 了一下眼睛，她就不见了。

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4 Thin cracks in the wall. One below the central air conditioner vent. Another in the corner behind the curtain. The new apartment is in a warranty period. Of course.

Someone comes to mend the wall.

Phone rings. A woman’s voice. A woman claims to be his wife.

You have never seen his divorce document, have you? She says.

You should never trust men’s promise, my father warned me before. It was after he moved out, separated from my mother. And me. Neither of them told me a complete story of what happened.

Many years later, I seek in him a reason to forgive my father.

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Night Wander I by Li Chen

家里的墙面开裂了。一道裂缝在中央空调出风口下面。另一道 在窗帘背后的角落。新房子还在保修期，有人会来补墙的。 电话响。一个女人的声音。她说她是他的妻子。我不信。 她问我，看过他的离婚证吗？ 父亲曾对我说，不要相信男人的承诺。那时他已经搬了出去， 与妈妈分居。他离开的还有我。 他们谁也没有告诉我，这一切是怎么发生的。 许多年以后，我试图在他身上寻找原谅父亲的理由。

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5 He doesn’t know what to do to pacify his wife and girlfriend. Pandemic lockdown saves him from confronting two angry women face to face.

I want to dig a hole and hide in. His wish comes true.

Everything is suspended again. And again.

Time becomes drying cement paste.

He thought he was good at lying. Lying in order to suspend a decision and an action. It’s hard to admit one’s own cowardliness. He doesn’t know people gathering on the street with blank sheets of paper in their hands.

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Night Wander I by Li Chen

多亏了清零政策，他被无限期隔离，不需要面对两个愤怒的 女人。 我想挖个洞钻进去。他愿望成真了。 一切都被暂停了。忘了第几回。 过去，现在，未来，像渐渐凝固的水泥。 他以为他很擅长说谎。说谎以拖延决定和行动。承认自己懦 弱总是困难的。因为信息封锁，他不知道在他房间以外的各 地，人们开始用一张白纸来抗议。

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6 I know you are here, ghost. I am here to see you.

I ran away, and now I come back for you.

What stopped you from drinking the broth of forgetfulness? What stopped you from crossing the bridge of oblivion to reincarnate into a new body? Why did you become a wandering soul? What is holding you back in this world? What due do you demand?

Tell me. Tell me your story.

I will exchange with mine. My story of after memory. My story that starts with the erasure.

I wander in the night, searching for a wandering soul.

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Night Wander I by Li Chen

我知道你在这里，亲爱的鬼魂。我来看你了。 我曾经逃离，但我为你回来了。 是什么阻止你喝下孟婆汤？是什么阻止你跨过奈何桥，去投胎一 个新的身体？是什么让你变成游魂留在这个世界？你想要什么？ 告诉我，请告诉我你的故事。 我将用我的来交换。始于记忆删除，之后的，我的故事。

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7 Quarantine camp was removed overnight.

A copy of the divorce agreement, stamped. He shows me.

What does it mean after all? What does he want from me?

He utters no word. Nor does he look at me in the eyes. The reflection of abyss in my eyes.

He has forgotten the lies beyond this lie. The lies that sunk into the abyss. He is reborn in a new world different from mine. There we are apart indefinitely.

Only ghost is watching.

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隔离方舱连夜消失了。 他给我看离婚文书，盖了章的。 我不懂那是什么意思。他不说话。他不看我的眼睛。我眼睛里反 射的他的深渊。 他忘记了他曾说过的谎言。沉入深渊的谎言。他在一个新世界重 生。从此我们无限期地分离。 只有鬼魂看见了这一切。

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