“It is possible that in many different places, in many disparate states, including reverie or daydream-the imaginations of a future without capitalism begin as dreams of sleep.”

 

- Jonathan Crary, 24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep

 

In modern society, individual private spaces are occupied by massive information, dense workforce and survival anxieties. This reality not only causes luck of sleep, but also gradually devours our spiritual spaces. Therefore, in this exhibition, I turn the art space in to a night sleeping field. I hope to create a moment in space, where the white-collar workers, homeless, nighthawks and all types of urban dwellers may leave behind their daily routines and enter into the long lost “stranded time”.

 

 

Work Description:

One time I was stuck on a train when I was traveling in Morocco because the train I took broke down halfway. During the time of waiting, many passengers got off and walked along the rail. I was hot and bored inside the carriage so I watched them through the window and shot a video with my phone. When I was filming, it felt like I was free of the time and space that I was in. Later when I was back to China, I saw my parents napping in their bedroom one day. Suddenly that scene brought me to the video I shot before. As if the bedroom of my parents and the train carriage overlapped in time and space. Was that me in the Morocco train car came home, or was that my never been abroad parents laying inside that slow moving Morocco train? 

Stranded Dreams, 4k video, 10’46”, 2019

 

Artist’s Biography:

Zhao Xu, film director and artist, born in Inner Mongolia in 1992 and dropped out of UAL Wimbledon Art College in 2013, based in Beijing now. His first feature film “Hills and Mountains” was selected by West Lake International Documentary Festival in 2018. It was also the closing film in 2017 JIMEI x ARLES INTERNATIONAL PHOTO FESTIVAL and was screened at UCCA “New Asian Scenery” Program. In 2015, his short documentary film “Regarding Lambs in the City” won the jury prize of the 12th Beijing Independent Film Festival and was sought after by Li Xianting Film Fund. It was also selected by the 12th China independent film festival, the 6th Chinese Visual Festival and London We Are the People Film Festival. Beside making films, he works also in the medium of painting and video installation. 

http://cargocollective.com/ZhaoXu