[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.76,0:00:16.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dear ladies and gentlemen, I’m China Tracy, \Nthe avatar of Cao Fei,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.76,0:00:18.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I’m her interpreter.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.50,0:00:30.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our generation has grown up in a fluid and \Nmobile environment where cultures mix and diverge.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.75,0:00:38.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Pop culture has spread rapidly into \Nevery corner of China.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.55,0:00:42.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I was little, I would go out and learn street dance.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.61,0:00:48.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Later, I fell in love with hip-hop music.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.61,0:00:59.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I see the world with a sense of humor; street culture is \Na very natural, wild, free, and spontaneous form of expression.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.44,0:01:07.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s like the notion of sampling \Nin hip-hop, which is to mix all different kinds of things together.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.10,0:01:15.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In music videos, visuality, \Nmontage, music, and imagery are blended into a single process.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.03,0:01:22.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Perhaps music takes the place of \Nsome of the narrative and feeling.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.14,0:01:26.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Music itself becomes a very emotional part of the work.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.80,0:01:33.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If I had grown up just focusing on the written word or photography or still images,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.93,0:01:37.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my way of \Nthinking would have been totally different.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.06,0:01:51.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had just graduated from college and had \Nopportunity to become exposed to the working world.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.31,0:01:54.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I got a taste of reality in a pretty \Nclose and intimate way,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.89,0:01:58.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I felt that I could critique reality through my artwork.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.11,0:02:05.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Looking back years later, the critique \Nseems a bit severe, even blunt.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.84,0:02:11.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But my later works began to reflect \Non a more thorough understanding of society as a whole,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.63,0:02:16.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they are quite different from \Nthe impulsive urges of that early period.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.28,0:02:23.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[ strumming music ]
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.36,0:02:38.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After I did the first "Hip-Hop Project," I \Nstarted working on cosplayers.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.76,0:02:44.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We translate cosplay into Chinese as role-playing. \NIt grows from a generation under the
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.16,0:02:46.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,influence of the cartoon culture.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.15,0:02:51.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Neither cosplaying nor hip-hop is native to China,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.86,0:02:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but when we experience it, we feel somehow that \Nit has become very indigenous and original.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.32,0:03:04.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was working part-time as an art director for \Nadvertising companies.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.00,0:03:09.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When scouting locations, we would \Ncome across ruined scenes and images.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.56,0:03:12.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Those places have left a deep impression on me.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.30,0:03:19.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These settings and backgrounds are very important to the characters and how they relate to each other.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.63,0:03:28.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even in real life, the cosplayers place themselves into cartoon characters roles
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.38,0:03:32.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so much that they carry their cartoon \Nroles into their everyday lives.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.01,0:03:41.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is a new kind of role reversal which also reflects the younger generation's discontent with their roles in real life.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.57,0:03:47.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Cosplay reflects the gap between these two generations.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.27,0:03:51.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Neither is willing to strike a \Ncompromise or reach an accord with the other.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.02,0:04:03.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I got an invitation from Siemens \Nelectric, I started to work on the video "Whose Utopia?"
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.20,0:04:07.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I thought that this might be a \Ngood opportunity to shoot inside a factory,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.80,0:04:13.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,usually very difficult because generally there is \Na high level of commercial protectionism.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.90,0:04:18.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s not an expose nor is it about political correctness.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.94,0:04:23.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It attempts to examine this particular kind of reality from multiple angles,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.74,0:04:28.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how workers are on the lookout for the \Nchance and opportunity to survive.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.78,0:04:47.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It also has this avatar-like element \Nwith the workers role-playing their fantasies.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.14,0:04:54.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I often have the feeling that they truly value \Nthis kind of opportunity to remake themselves.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.41,0:05:05.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For corporations to let artists create works with the factory as the backdrop is an attempt to forge a corporate culture.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.11,0:05:13.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What artists do in reality in the art world is not all that important to the corporation.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:13.100,0:05:17.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What’s important is the project that is created.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.92,0:06:09.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My composer Zhang Anding introduced me to Second \NLife in 2006.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.47,0:06:15.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was purchasing land in an online game, and he said that he can construct and have his own second life.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.06,0:06:22.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Subsequently, I opened this account, my \Naccount for China Tracy.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.52,0:06:27.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was absolutely enthralled and spellbound by it from the beginning.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:28.21,0:06:33.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I started with the very basics, how to take my first baby steps, and how to talk to people.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.17,0:06:36.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The whole process \Nwas totally captivating and riveting.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.00,0:06:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,China is her surname, Tracy the given name.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:40.26,0:06:46.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wanted to enter this virtual world with an ordinary person's perspective to see what was happening out there.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:47.70,0:06:51.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the beginning, I was working with a \Nset of predesigned personas
Dialogue: 0,0:06:51.47,0:06:55.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that a new second life user can choose from when constructing their avatar.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.89,0:07:03.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over time, I spent a lot of money buying her skin, her eyes, her figure, and even her sex organs to give her a more modern look.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:10.27,0:07:15.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"iMirror," my documentary made in second life, \Nhas a feminine perspective.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.13,0:07:22.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In this documentary, you will see a strong sense of selfhood, a sense of using my own body, my own self to explore this world.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:30.16,0:07:35.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The encounter between me and Hug Yue occurred when I was exploring around in my online journey.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.70,0:07:38.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I saw a very handsome guy \Nplaying a piano.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.70,0:07:43.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was drawn by the piano music, which was very romantic.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:44.70,0:07:50.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Quietly and secretively, I stood at a \Ndistance, shooting the scene of him playing the piano.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:51.37,0:07:54.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After a while, he asked China Tracy for a dance.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.41,0:07:59.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We began to get to know each other, and I found him a gentleman with a fine sense of humor.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:00.92,0:08:06.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are many romantic stories like this \None in second life between one male and one female avatar.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:06.30,0:08:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But perhaps behind the scenes, there may be two females, but in real life they are two guys.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:12.49,0:08:16.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nonetheless, romance still transpires between these avatars
Dialogue: 0,0:08:16.52,0:08:22.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like the case with me and Hug Yue, even though \Nit did not ultimately lead to a full-blown romance.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:24.57,0:08:29.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I finally learned that he was about 67, \Na fairly old guy in real life.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:29.42,0:08:35.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He is a communist, a big fan of Marx, and he would often wear \Na t-shirt with Marx’s image.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:36.68,0:08:41.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I got to see both his romantic and idealistic sides. \NI also got the impression of him being
Dialogue: 0,0:08:41.92,0:08:48.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very political and zealous, having a kind \Nof-- in Mao’s words-- romantic heroism.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:51.32,0:08:54.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Through "iMirror," you can peek into the digital world.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:54.46,0:08:57.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everything is much more intense than the real world.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:58.12,0:09:03.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s much more unbridled and wild. \NThat’s why so many people get hooked on Second Life.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:03.64,0:09:09.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In it, they try to find a kind of life \Nwith emotions that they want for themselves in real life.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:12.48,0:09:17.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But in the end, you will find that in \Nthis documentary, that is something beyond reach.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:27.12,0:09:31.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"RMB City" was conceived while I was \Nstill exploring Second Life.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:35.90,0:09:40.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was wondering if I could have my own \Ncommunity and my own city built purely by myself.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:40.64,0:09:43.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I started to envision what this city might look like.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:55.36,0:09:59.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 2007, the video of RMB City \Nwas basically finished.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:59.78,0:10:04.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s an imagining, a draft design of the \Noverall appearance of this city.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:11.14,0:10:19.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It represents the building and development of an urban center with all that entails: investment, expansion, overdevelopment.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:20.86,0:10:25.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What’s important is to make an \Nimaginary city run smoothly like a real one.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:34.33,0:10:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We first came up with a list of options for all the different components in the building of \Nthe city,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:40.00,0:10:44.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,different buildings and landmarks that we absolutely want to have in the cityscape.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:56.72,0:11:02.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We designed an urban plan by combining these different components utilizing collages.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:03.21,0:11:10.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our next step was to feed the design into three-dimensional software to build it up into an architectural model.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:10.55,0:11:16.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Then we turned this software over to our virtual architects to be uploaded into Second Life.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:22.50,0:11:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I would prefer it to be a more open environment
Dialogue: 0,0:11:25.00,0:11:28.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where you can keep adding things to implement whatever ideas you come up with.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:29.64,0:11:34.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We’re now at a stage where we have to \Nfeel our way or as Deng Xiaoping said,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:34.20,0:11:37.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Cross the river by touching the stones."
Dialogue: 0,0:11:43.51,0:11:46.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Take our current mayoral program for example.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:46.46,0:11:49.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Each mayor will serve a three-month term for RMB City
Dialogue: 0,0:11:49.61,0:11:54.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and be free to make his own policies and decisions or to have her own interpretation of the city.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:55.92,0:12:01.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think this also releases me from any responsibility \Nto keep control of the city.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:02.23,0:12:06.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There will be no party committee. We will have a board of \Ndirectors.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:06.52,0:12:13.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We’ll have a judicial system with a judge somewhat like legendary Bao Gong, the Chinese embodiment of justice.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:17.87,0:12:21.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,RMB City is in many ways like the painting from the Han \NDynasty,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:21.57,0:12:27.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with clouds and mist, hills and rivers, and the interrelationship between humans and nature.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:27.29,0:12:32.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It made me wonder if this aesthetic is \Ndeeply rooted in the Asian way of thinking.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:33.89,0:12:39.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’ve always been looking for these connections, the differences and similarities between the past and present,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:39.87,0:12:41.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Asian and the Western.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:49.49,0:12:53.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,RMB is the abbreviation for the Chinese currency, \Nthe renminbi.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:53.62,0:13:00.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Renmin" means the people, the general population, and the "r" could almost stand for republic or revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:00.81,0:13:03.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In Chinese, the name sounds like “the people's city.”
Dialogue: 0,0:13:04.16,0:13:11.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it comes to take on all these associative meanings. I think it sounds \Nlike "remember city," a city of memories.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:14.16,0:13:18.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't think that building my own city is an expression of individualism.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:18.59,0:13:24.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I feel it is precisely an acknowledgment of the belief in and the practice of democracy.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:24.73,0:13:31.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think this project will lead to the foundation on \Nwhich to experiment with utopian practices.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:54.49,0:13:58.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[ ANNOUNCER ] To learn more about \NArt21: “Art in the Twenty-First Century"
Dialogue: 0,0:13:58.41,0:14:00.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and its educational resources,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:00.53,0:14:03.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,please visit us online at: \NPBS.org
Dialogue: 0,0:14:07.54,0:14:13.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Art21: “Art in the Twenty-First Century” is available on Blu-Ray and DVD.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:13.17,0:14:15.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The companion book is also available.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:15.50,0:14:18.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To order, visit us online at: shopPBS.org
Dialogue: 0,0:14:18.65,0:14:23.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or call PBS Home Video at: \N1-800-PLAY-PBS