Cao Fei - Whose Utopia?, 2006

I was particularly captured by this piece and I watched the entire 19 minutes in the museum. Its begins with showing the mechanics of a light bulb factory. This captured me as it began to spur different ideas involving synchronised movements and in what they may be able to express and mean. Synchronised movements is a way that many different things and ideas could be suggested towards an audience without literally stating them. The use of the mechanical equipment could also possibly suggest a point about society and the rules people have to conform to - rather than breaking the mold and the usual system.

The second section is about the secret passions and creative sides of the industrial workers - I found this contrasting with the first part really inspiring as it shows that though they may work in a factory, that may not be their dream or their ideal goal. It could also possibly portray how the institution may suppress our ambitions to fit in societies mechanical ways, and that even if you're not allowed to express the creativity - it will always be there.

The third section focused on the workers and displaying the statement of "My Future Is Not A Dream.". It featured many different shots of the workers simply looking straight into the camera. Personally for me, this brought the entire video back to the workers, and how they are the real machines behind today's society - and that although they may be conformed to a future life of factory work, that most definitely is not their dream. This again links back to the idea of shaking the normalities of society up and turning all the rules on their heads.

As I was sitting the museum watching it, I began to discuss with fellow classmates all of the different offers and ideas that could be taken and sparked from the video and how they could develop into an overall short piece. There are so many different themes explored throughout the piece; mechanism and fitting into society's system, creativity, dreams and ambitions, suppression, are just a few of the many that were offered throughout the 19 minute video. It really intrigued me that from simply only viewing the film once I was able to come up with so many different starting points and how a video so simple can carry so much meaning.



Whose Utopia (Cao Fei, 2006) from Melvin Furnau on Vimeo.