(feeling a bit distant from this side of the internet, the posting mechanism and its language, but i’m also just dying to say hi to my friends here and share with you some updates from my life. i miss friends!) ✨ never thought i’d have a solo show at any point soon. i’m incredibly grateful for the amazing and generous @ant_tan , for letting me visit, crush, (overwork), and project light at @thepondgallery113 with you 😭 perhaps i thought of it more as a response. another fun deet: the Pond Gallery named itself “huà qīng chí” with a pun, cuz the previous tenant that was there had a foot bath/massage store that took the name “huá qīng chí foot bath,” which is named after “huá qīng chí” (huaqing spring pool) where ancient royals, Yang Guifei and Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, took baths. though huaqing spring pool is near where i was born, my last name huá is a different huá from the huas here. it’s my second time visiting chengdu and first time walking around this neighborhood where the Pond Gallery and many tech offices are located, which could feel like downtown Seattle or Silicon Valley. i have always only walked pass neighborhoods and gleaned what i saw, otherwise peaking in. being inside, i have been feeling that i was locked up in a transparent vacuum. watching others while being watched. when being outside however, we capture daily and scan many QR codes to prove our existence. light has been captured. data was captured. i am captured. —— on view in Chengdu till 3/26. the QR code in pic #9 is scannable, which will direct you to a site for you to upload a photo and leave a note. join and connect with us there online. —— many more thank you and shoutouts to my friends: @boringpi777 for helping me build the website (work in pic #9); @kexinrun for helping me shoot some clips of the “hua qing chi foot bath” store in Beijing; and friends who joined both on-site and online for the performance via Tencent meeting.