Embedded in the complex digital interface of this antique image, is a memoir of a life once rescued. “Stand up straight and study!” …She could hear her ‘now buried’ grandfather’s voice echo in her memory, as if he wasn’t gone. His funeral was held at Soong Qingling Mausoleum on a rainy Tuesday afternoon, months ago. She hadn’t actually gotten around to dusting out his redbrick French Concession apartment until now. But as she slammed the door shut on her Zizhu hybrid, she thought, “I can’t do this!” The actuality of the situation was that she had once been an orphan, panhandling food for over a year. Every morning he made her recite “Thoughts of Chairman Mao” before she scampered off to school in her blue pressed uniform. It was the man of the redbrick French Concession apartment who found her on the streets, took her in, and raised her as his own.

Credits: Xiao Mao (performance) • Wang Dongma (video animation) • Thomas Charvériat (art direction & technical guidance) • Zane Mellupe (production direction)