THE WASTE LAND II: SALT 荒原之二：盐

The Waste Land, which began filming in 2019 and has been in production for nearly four years from before to after the epidemic, is a trilogy of video works focusing on the risks of modernity and the crisis of subjectivity, inspired by modernist poet T.S. Eliot's poem written in the aftermath of World War I and the global depression that once prevailed for nearly three years since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the winter of 2019: wasteland-like urban landscapes, disease and death reduced to “stories” and “scenes” in media spectacle, growing social atomization and spiritual dilemmas, the dysfunction of reason, economic depression and political conflicts......The global crisis triggered by the epidemic is different from the spiritual void and moral decay of the post-war world depicted by the modernist poets of the 20th century, but points to some more insidious threats, such as the “backwash” of entertainmentization, the obscuring of the hidden worries of modernity by industrial prosperity, the increase of global risks and the corresponding turmoil of individual fate. SALT is the second chapter of the trilogy, focusing on Karma, the ups and downs of history, the changing social landscapes in modern society, and the survival of mankind under the risks of modernization. Salt is a symbol of purification, and it also suggests a search for truth and authenticity and an attempt to return to purity. In this digital art video made up of CGI technology and location shooting, the baby and the skeleton, each as the symbol of life and death, slowly pass through the entire history of human civilization and the inexhaustible river of life. SALT attempts to explore not only the risks of modernity and the crisis of subjectivity, the ecological destruction and the desolation under the prosperity of modernization, but also about social change and the will to live, about how can we - in the modern wasteland exposed by the epidemic - re-think the value and meaning of being a Man: where we come from, where we are going, and what defines us. In the eternal wasteland of time, how can we return to the truth and purity of the universe through all the complexity.

自2019年开始拍摄并持续创作至今，制作时间横跨疫前至疫后近四年的「荒原」是关于现代性之隐忧与主体性危机的影像三部曲系列作品，其灵感源自现代派诗人T.S.艾略特著于一战后的同名诗作及新冠疫情席卷后萦绕全球近三年的普遍低迷状态：荒原般的城市图景、在媒介景观中沦为奇观的疾病与死亡、加剧的社会原子化与个体精神困境、经济萧条与政治危机……疫情所引发的全球危机虽有别于二十世纪现代派诗人笔下战后世界的精神虚无与道德凋敝，但却指向一些更为隐蔽的威胁，如狂欢的倒灌、繁荣（prosperity）对现代性之隐忧的遮蔽、全球性风险的加剧，以及与之对应的个体生存困境及命运的动荡。 SALT是「荒原」三部曲的第二章，聚焦于历史的涨落、社会图景的变更与生存于其中的人之境况。Salt，盐，意指净化，在此处同时喻示一种对本质的找寻与回归纯粹的尝试。在由CG技术与实景拍摄合成的三频影像中，婴儿与骷髅各自作为生命与死亡的象征，徐徐穿行过人类历史的脉络与源源不竭的生命之河。SALT试图探讨的不仅是现代性之隐忧与主体性之危机与繁荣之下的荒芜，亦系关于社会变迁与生的意志，关于置身于现代荒原中的我们如何重思作为人的价值与意义。