Hey hey Dear Readers, I'm back with the rest of the pictures included on the Remnants exhibition. Number 3 and 4 were both taken in the New Village, which is, in my opinion at least, most decrepit and destitute place I've seen in the City so far. Perhaps Coal Mine Village holds the title for the biggest slum, but the New Village felt much more depressing, perhaps due to the fact that it's located in a sort of a basin, below the level of the main streets, hidden from the passersby. I had to actually spend time looking for a way to enter into this entangled (and unfortunately very foul smelling) maze of red-brick houses and makeshift warehouses. To think that anyone still lives in conditions like this in 2022 in a place that claims to be "number one" (I don't know in what, to be fair, maybe in the number of slums hidden by propaganda posters in such a way that they can't be seen from the main road?) is quite a sad commentary on the state of affairs in the City and in the whole country. Yet during my visit there I managed to find more happiness, friendly faces and carefree life scenes than I'd normally do in one of those so-called "modern", walled communities, where people call the cops the moment they see a foreigner without a mask. I'm hoping to revisit sometime soon to take more pictures - I'm hoping I'll fare better than I did with the "revisiting" of the chemical lab, but at the same I would be very happy to find that the place has finally been demolished, and people there given proper living conditions. I chose these two remnants to encapsulate my impressions of the New Village. 3. Red Cold Bricks (2021)
What is there to say? The bricks of New Village are red and cold. This one pictures encapsulates how the entire place looks like. On sunny days, however, the whole places glows nicely in the midday sun, especially when seen from above. There is something exotic about the New Village, perhaps it's the palm trees that grow along the New Village Rd. 4. Wretched Automatons (2021)
This is probably my favourite picture from the entire Remnants collection. Sadly, or not, it did not get sold, as everyone thought it was very creepy. There certainly is something postapocaliptic about it, but then that could be said about the entire New Village. In case you wondered what's in the barrels - it's booze. The more I look at it the more I see it is indeed full of strange symbolism, but there is something about those worn-out tiles that feels so familiar and makes me want to revisit immediately. Strange photo, indeed. That moment made me think of Nier: Automata, thus the title, a sort of tribute to that amazing story (and game, obviously, if you haven't played it, please do!). ---------------- I've run out of time to write again, so I'll swing by tomorrow with more stuff. I got to run and see to the cats at the shelter. Hopefully, I'll be able to share some of the good deeds we are doing there with all of you, Dear Readers, really soon! So long, Laoguiyang