Here, Zhao is obviously not an optimistic prophet; he follows the margins and crosses boundaries. Perhaps he is concerned for the environment in China, while also focusing his artist’s eyes on China’s rapid changes. He has not promised anything, but he has drawn on the migratory patterns of birds to express key aspects of Chinese society related to the Yalu River wetlands. It may seem that he has not created anything, but he has provided some indispensable clues and traces. His works contain much of the energy and vision that we need. We need to reflect on a key question: What sort of powers allow modernization and development to rationalize and legitimize all overdevelopment? How does this eventually become a psychological suggestion and mode of action that social groups collectively follow? From now on, instead of saying we live in a modern society, we should say that we live in a future world; we all need to confront this turning point in time, because it creates a problem of synchronicity in our lives. It has trapped us, with nowhere to escape.... - Feng Boyi, on The Lines We Draw

 

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