City · Painted Skin

Author: Li Lei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: This set of books is divided into four volumes. We attempt to clarify the different details of memory related to cities and villages through these images and texts, and name each volume as "Performance," "Wilderness," "Painted Skin," and "Hoeing." "Co-conspirator" is not meant to be obscure; what we seek is participation. Focusing on participation has become a necessary stance for us in dealing with significant events. Memory is like this. As symbols that cannot fade away in the life screen of every individual, memory is either detail or symbol, becoming the reason for this compilation and reading. Memory is dynamic; it gradually loses its edges over time due to the wind of history. We need to account for these once-clear edges, so that they can remain more deeply in our lives before or during the process of weathering. We can always find traces of ourselves or our ancestors in these images and texts, reliving these traces and their backgrounds in memory. In this re-experiencing, we awaken: we are still on the road. Re-experiencing helps us uncover the deep imprints of the times. The result of re-experiencing our individualities is that we find common ground in growth. We are engaging in this re-experiencing in a collective name. Such re-experiencing holds profound and far-reaching significance. Some images and texts form the specimens of our re-experiencing. Re-experiencing gradually brings us closer to the lights, whether in the city or the countryside. We share this experience of accounting for memory, and we are no longer lonely together.