Cao Fei: Room 608, Vitamin at Frieze London 2010

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A quiet precinct, a pair of lovers slip through the darkness across the tennis court, borrowing the faint glimmer of light from the swimming pool. I can still see them. They walk hand in hand. I do not understand them at all, but in my eyes, they appear to be in love with each other. This city has innumerable precincts like this, with countless families, husbands and wives, couples, children… It is only today that I can quietly observe all that is around me, just as this quiet precinct has done. I conceal myself amidst the millions of lamps of families, watching them care for one another as they always do. My hope is that each of these lights is a happy and fortunate one, beaming onto a woman who is doing the ironing, caressing the hand of a loved one, taking a bath, clasping a book or a few sheets of white paper, or a bowl of soup.

At this very moment, I sense that I have developed a pair of fortunate, happy eyes.

 

– Excerpts from Cao Fei: Woman

 

 

The atmosphere in Room 608 is comprised of memories and emotions generated by the anonymous inhabitants of Cao Fei’s world. Immersing ourselves in the swirling currents of this small room, our everyday experience undergoes a subtle shift.