Low-End Population

Revolutionary Rebel Command of the Shanghai Publishing System; Revolutionary Rebel Committee of the Shanghai People’s Fine Arts Publishing House. Gaoju Mao Zedong sixiang weida hongqi ba wuchan jieji wenhua dageming jinxing daodi – geming wuzui, zaofan youli. 1966-1967.

For a detailed investigation and analysis, please see my research proposal: https://kdocs.cn/l/cqCi3Q4PU0xZ.

In short, a public secret is a concept or idea that is “officially” kept secret or restricted from knowledge, but which may be widely known in practice.

Or, it refers to something that is widely known as a fact, but that no one most closely associated with it is willing to categorically admit in public.

In China, a typical case of public secrecy is the Cultural Revolution.

Maxim Zhestkov, Igor Sordokhonov. Distortion. 2021. https://www.behance.net/gallery/124878335/Research-Distortions.

The use of multiple layers of objects in different colors or the overlay of multiple layers of paper to form different shapes fascinated me when I first saw this series of drawings.

The proposed visual system combines abstract scenes with imagery tied to specific events.

Abstract moving forms were intended to represent tension between collective struggle and government pressure.

Newspaper surfaces were intended to suggest how reported facts can be bent, recoloured, or obscured.

Revenant. Marble Run. 2021. https://www.behance.net/gallery/125632003/Marble-Run.

I was very inspired by this work. I want to use abstract objects to suggest public secret events or the parties involved in the events. The motion of an object can represent many things.

For example, a hint that something was raging, or that something had been forgotten, or even that some public secret remained in the memory of the masses.

It can also imply that some key figures are always pursuing the truth or outcome of some public secret, despite the difficulties of circumstances and the obstruction of others.

Shanghai, 2022

The archived research identified Shanghai's 2022 COVID-19 lockdown as a later case study, citing reports of prolonged confinement, disrupted access to food and income, and public criticism of the authorities' response.

Many artists have used digital art to express their dissatisfaction with the Shanghai government and have even held art creation competitions around the theme of the Shanghai epidemic.

永远的草莓园 . “四月之声.” 【CDTV】永远的草莓园｜四月之声, https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/680095.html. Accessed 29 Apr. 2022.

海辛. “Steampunk Shanghai.” AI, Art, Shanghai, https://docs.qq.com/slide/DV3hGcXVIS1BTTUVp. Accessed April 29, 2022.

The Shanghai 2022 epidemic event can be described as an amalgamation of many small Chinese public secrets with a new event occurring almost every week since March.

The number of people affected by this event is large, and the duration is long. The number of metaphorical digital artworks produced during this time is significant. Therefore, this event is well worth studying.

Fengxian case

The archived research described the Xuzhou chained-woman case, which drew national attention in early 2022 after a video showed a woman being confined in Feng County, Jiangsu. Conflicting official statements and subsequent investigations intensified public concern about trafficking, abuse, and the protection of vulnerable people.

By creating digital art, many artists used the incident to call on the Chinese government to protect rural women and people with mental illnesses, combat trafficking and sexual abuse of women and children in rural China, and question the local government’s actions and official media in the incident.

The Fengxian Chain Girl incident is arguably one of the special public secrets in China since the 21st century. This incident refers to women’s issues such as women’s rights and trafficking of women in the countryside, which is rare in China and is an event that is very worthy of study.

撒盐少年. ” Xuzhou Chained Woman Incident.” 被狗链拴住20年的母亲, https://posts.careerengine.us/p/62010b63dc1bfe7ac11e2ffe?from=latest-posts-panel&type=title. Accessed April 29, 2022.

Blood Room Map

The archived dossier described Blood Room Map as an electronic map marking forced-demolition locations in mainland China; its current availability has not been reverified.

These adjacent cases remain part of the original research horizon; they are not presented as completed works in this project.