I stepped into a longabandoned cinema with a bunch of urban adventure enthusiasts. This cinema is one of a large state-owned farm‘s facilities. Large state-owned farms were common in China in the last century, mostly established by the intellectual youth that went to the countryside and stayed there to flourish. But with the reform of the economic system, the state-owned farms that were so desirable to everyone during the planned economy gradually fell into decline.This project is a tribute to that era , deriving from the collected objects.

 

Founded in 1955, Shimen Farm is very famous

as a state-owned farm in my hometown. It

was the political, economic and cultural center

of the region during the planned economy,

with the most cutting-edge equipment and

facilities, as recalled by former residents on the

Internet: "In the old days, the farm was a small

world with all the support needed for a city,

its own small government, its own stores and

markets, its own hospital, its own kindergarten,

elementary and junior high school, and there

are cinemas and parks. In the days of the

planned economy, it was an enviable large

state-owned enterprise." But with the wave of

reform of state-owned enterprises, this large

state-owned farm, originally reclaimed and

built by countless young people, gradually fell

into decline, and some of its facilities were

abandoned, becoming the so-called "Liminal

Space". When I followed a group of urban

exploration enthusiasts into the cinema of

Shimen Farm and opened the door of the film

projection room, I found that the objects inside

had been last updated in the 1990s which was

the culmination of the economic reforms. I

also found several pieces of blank film covered

with dust, the accumulation of which began

with the decline of the area. As a young

person who had not experienced the planned

economy, I had a strong desire to explore all

the objects found in this room. However, in the

local government's plan, this area will soon

be renovated, and the buildings and facilities

that once existed may no longer exist. For

the purpose of preservation, I bagged these

objects that had been left unattended for 30

years and brought them back to my studio to

organize and categorize them. And these dusty

blank films became a key part of my practice.