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Neo-Japonisme

Experimental Photography, 2013

The digital age has transformed people’s cognition of foreign cultures and traditions, including my own, into a common desire for consuming exotic commodities. Each time I arrived in a new country, I did the tourist thing again and again in the exact same way a Susan Sontag’s conception of photography. Over time, I have taken thousands of useless photos as digital trash. However, by multiplying more than a hundred, or even two hundred, layers of my tourist photos for each work, I can transform these photographs not only into a complete record of what i see in the real world, but also into a more concrete entity of the passage of time, along with a visual representation of my continuous memory of the past.

Orientalist Lens

Orientalism is a constant theme in my art. I always try to examine the consumerism influence on East Asian cultures while I personally continue to explore a modern interpretation of Orientalism, a concept profoundly developed by 18-19th century European and American Artists. My lived experience in different countries and cultures, including China, Japan, France and the U.S., has expanded my understanding of orientalism from a primary fascination into a critical view of social and cultural issues.

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Creative & Technical Details

Digital Photography, Photoshop

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Photo Documentation

Other Projects

All Images Copyright © Mengyu Chen | Media Art, Design, Technology

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