Inject with Life, 2018
Digital video, 3'00".
Video produced on the Red Mansion Award residency in Beijing.

Inject with Life is inspired by time spent exploring the phenomena of “ghost malls” in china whilst travelling there. Ghost malls are typically huge malls that were recently and speculatively built in China over recent years but have remained devoid of enough shoppers as we witness supply outstripping demand. These malls are typically “lifestyle centres” that offer a myriad of activities such as swimming, shopping and dining all under one roof. I wanted to draw a parallel between the flexibility of these types of space, and that of the healthy and flexible body as is depicted here doing yoga in a domestic space. Specifically, a pregnant body can be seen engaging in yoga and other exercise activities, but instead of skin, her body is erased to reveal the busy aisles and glowing lights of shopping malls, and the violent crumbling of buildings been subject to demolition. In this way, a parallel is drawn between the regeneration of urban space and that of human bodies; with flows of shoppers and billows of dust suggesting the intimate working and decaying of the body.