Painful Youth · Them · Blue Hallucination

Author: Han Han et al
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Reading the works of authors born in the 1980s in quiet. Their words are like tiny, unknown creatures, one by one, taking me far away. In the vast forest of subtle words, I hear the voices of the 80s generation, touch and experience them with my hands, and I feel: the pain of youth. No matter how the 80s generation claims to have begun aging at sixteen, their time remains that of youth, though they have added many layers of meaning to it. Wandering through the space of their words, feeling the subtle tremors in their hearts, I recall the blue of French painter Yves Klein, that blue, that unforgettable monochromatic blue. And there is also the film "Blue" by Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski, which exudes calls for freedom, equality, and brotherhood. A hue spills out from the words of the 80s generation—pure blue, melancholic blue, intense blue, filling the sky. The 80s generation chose the blue of the sky and the sea. Their pain is blue. That empty blue, that empty pain, drifts in the sky. From their resilient words, I read their efforts, starting from within. They have set off. My understanding of them is contradictory. On one hand, they have distinct personalities, differing from those born in other eras in both life views and writing styles. On the other hand, many of them also share common feelings. The 80s generation is the only one that has not forgotten to breathe. They listen to the breath of their inner selves, sensing every scent that fills the air, drifting farther and farther. Some say the 80s generation is selfish. They say, "We don’t feel pain." They have already grown up, and before they reached maturity, pain had turned into numbness. When they try to express it, they realize that the pain is far more complex than their words can convey. Unconsciously, they use fixed phrases like "depressed, old, melancholic, dizzy" to sum up their feelings of pain. They are a generation that doesn’t want to say too much. I see their blue hallucinations. Their ability to create illusions is extraordinary. From memory to old age, from ancient myths to the unknown of tomorrow. They resist the conspiracy of concrete and steel, in today’s materialized and digital world, where everything appears to be progressing according to a time program. Many say the 80s generation has already possessed everything. They open their palms, yet inside they find emptiness. Han Han, Xiao Fan, Li Shazi, Gan Shijia, Liu Weidong, Shui Ge, Hei Tiancai, Youzou, Wu Jianxiong, Hou Haijun, Hu Yufeng, Xia Yu Ci, Xu Zechen, Guo Zhan Wu Gou, Ma Niu, Gong Xiaobing, Tian He’s youth evaporates in memory, and the sky is filled with the blue of pain. I feel their blue emotions. This is an early-aging generation, a youth that ages, a youth that hurts, rooted in their hearts. Numbness flows from the ice peak and falls onto the forest of the city. The earth is awake, but they are cold. They say, numbness itself is a great pain. Zhang Yuexuan, Chun Shu, Mo Xiao Xie, Jiang Fangzhou, Xiaohua, Dong Wenying, Zuo Cha, Ren Xiaowen, Xing Na, Xiaoxin Ganer, Xiu, Zi Xi, Ang Yunhong, Dong Xiaqingqing, Liu Xiaolei, Yi Zi, Tan Shao Liang, Li Meng, Yan Ge, Long Nü’s blue emotions are delicate, their pain is subtly rendered and spreads freely.