Selfies at the Center of the Universe

I wish I had spent more time here at night when the lights are really dystopian and crazy looking. I lived in Japan for many years, so I’m used to that. But this is crazy.

Yes, I’m interested in presenting them as sort of fossilized still lives. Memento mori for eternity. Are you familiar with these objects?

In the south of China, they use these objects in the funeral environment and funeral culture. I’ve been working with them for a long time.

They’re nicely made cardboard replicas of daily life objects. There are Louis Vuitton shoes, there are guns and food, and even stuff that relates to when you were old, right before you died. So it’s like separating every aspect of life. Even stuff for children, and cigarettes—

Yes, offered and burned. Two years ago I did a film with Cheng Ran, JOSS, where we set all those object types on fire—a lot of fire technics. Now I think I’ve finally found an interesting way to frame them into sculptures. What I’m most interested in is how they relate to consumers and spirituality at the same time.

I’ve sourced many through my travels, and I’m trying to go back in July to do a residency project in Shenzhen. It’s in the south of China, by the Pearl River Delta, so that’s Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macao. I might go to these factories and produce a documentary on my own about how they are made, why they are made, how it connects to people and to the economy. Because we are talking about ancient Chinese customs, but that has changed with Western entrance. It was never about product and consumerism—before, it would be the image of your ancestors, or little calligraphy papers. Interestingly, these objects all made by machines now. And so they’re all going to look exactly the same, it’s somewhat standardized.

I did work with the Shanzhai products for many years. But I guess those are more iconic and more specific, and I don’t see them in terms of intellectual property and copyright infringement. For me, it’s about the spiritual world, which I found really fascinating. Somehow, they become more noble. And at the same time they’re also sort of taboo. For example, in the Christian culture, if you were fucking with a crucifix, you would be considered deranged. And for Chinese people, playing with those objects or simply owning them is not really cool. You’re not shocking them, but it’s like bad mojo, bad feng shui, you know? I don’t get superstitious, but maybe I should! [Laughs]

That’s exactly the difference between counterfeit and Shanzhai products. Emulation of luxury—trying to replicate a brand image and then just making it cheap. Whereas the Shenzhen Shanzhai are just a whole different story, bold and playful in their essence. You would never believe that baby outfit is either Disney or Louis Vuitton. And sometimes, you’ll have a good product, with five different branded imageries mixed together. I have some stuff that uses Calvin Klein, Angry Birds, and Kmart all together, as one pattern.

My own personal take—without any historical content behind it—is just based on the way Chinese people collect logos and branded images in a very different way than us. Like symbols of the wealth of the West and of prosperity. One of the junctions I’ve seen in logos many times is with the Apple logo. For example, jeans that say, “An apple a day takes the doctor away.” Wealth is translated into health, like financial wealth and financial health, and the health of a company. I think there’s always something in those brand values, and the way they are triggered into being something cool.

I would tend to say instantly—at least in terms of design—a pattern, like a Missoni. Or how the power of Louis Vuitton’s spatial arrangement is really strong. It’s like color arrangement and color blocks. Like with Tommy Hilfiger and Prada, there are always two or three colors. A monogram is like a pattern, but it’s close to a logo, and by then it’s also moving into advertising culture. Like how a Calvin Klein campaign needs to look like a Calvin Klein campaign. For the past 20 years. It’s a super strong recipe, which is fascinating. Like look at the My Calvins thing, you can see the storyline from the 80s and Kate Moss, and now Justin Bieber’s crotch.

It’s totally the same. Hot man, big crotch, My Calvins. I just did the hashtag.

I just think it’s extremely efficient.

It touches down again to this counterfeit industry. Who doesn’t wear Calvin Klein underwear? And the perfumes, and the licensing. I feel like this brand is so future.