This collage utilizes a "censored" manner to discuss the forbidden subjects in post-pandemic China: the cult of personality, the suppression, the forgotten memories of the past, and now the chaotic and abused containment measures. Interestingly, although all the subjects are separate, they are re-organized through the discourse of the pandemic: not only do the government's suppression and neglect of human rights, which became extremely obvious in the current era, remind some Chinese people of the past tragedies happening within the country, but the pandemic of China itself has become a unique cultural signal representing autocracy, dictatorship, and the ban on freedom. The covid test swab and the protective clothing thus become metaphors in this specific cultural context regarding hegemony and control.

 

This piece generally follows the grid format by creating three columns using the Tiananmen image: left to the image, the soldier statue and the bird; middle, the fish and boat; right, the train and the man. Yet, elements are breaking the grid. For the Tiananmen image, I use it as a central background based on which everything then develops. Instead of displaying the image separately, I added different layers overlapping with the image to expand on its original meaning. For instance, the three cars are added to implicitly represent the tanks that suppress the students in the incident, and the Terracotta Warriors are added to represent the army "defending" Tiananmen square. By extending the image horizontally and vertically through different layers of objects, I was trying to convey multiple layers of content and make the Tiananmen foundation and central point of the image, even though it is only positioned in the background.

 

Rather than making the whole picture axisymmetric, I placed the warrior on the left side, extending from the bottom, and the man on the right side, extending from the top, to simulate a sense of central symmetry. They also form a contrast between ancient history and modern times of China. Connotatively, I also designed this to show how the dominant ideology and power structure of modern China resembles that of the feudal dynasty.

 

In the front layer, the covid testing swabs are the most apparent grid breakers. For one thing, I placed them in different directions and positions going across the grid lines to make them stand out more. For another, I kept some blue edges around the swabs to form a contrast against the warm colors in other layers. Therefore, the swabs, combined with the men with protective clothes, are emphasized in a way that presents ironic meanings concerning China's way of handling the pandemic with extreme pressure and all-week-long covid tests. Besides, the composition of the swabs themselves also presents certain meanings through a code system, which is my way of anti-censorship.