Artist statement: The animation begins with the peaceful landscape of Jiangnan. Shanghai’s old city walls are the backdrop for the traditional riverboat floating on the water. The serene landscape is suddenly broken by bombings. Photographs of foreigners appear in the rubble. The next scene depicts The Bund. The Bund was an official trading port with the West during the Qing Dynasty. A Western style clock dial with Zodiac figures staggered in rotation fly onto the landscape. This clock is a metaphor for the conflict and convergence of the Eastern and Western cultures. Shanghai’s landscape is changed; Western style buildings replace Chinese ones. A monumental statue of a British diplomat Sir Harry Smith Parkes is built. He was integral to the Treaty of Nanking that ceded Hong Kong to the British. After the Japanese Occupation of Shanghai, the Chinese destroyed his statue. During those turbulent times the Chinese people were disillusioned and fearful for the future. I intersperse images of plums and lilies throughout the scenes because they represent the nobility of the human character and the ephemeral nature of human life. History brings change like the blooming and wilting of a flower. As soon as a flower blooms it is one step closer to its death. The next scene is of Sheshan Catholic church that was built from 1925-1935. To depict the absurd history of Western religion in Shanghai I use random objects that are interjected into the plots as characters. The Bund’s banks, consulates and administrative agencies have become part of the physical appearance of Shanghai. They are historical evidence of Western imperialism and colonial power. The East and West mixing together over the decades have created and deformed Shanghai to what it is today. Therefore I end the animation with a panorama of new Shanghai represented by skyscrapers of Pudong. Faded Shanghai Dream Video. HD betacam. 2011.
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