Eye Exercise 眼保健操

Eye Exercise 眼保健操 is an animated portrait series of the artist’s younger avatar-self.

This ongoing body of work draws from her childhood memories of the daily exercise required in mainland Chinese schools, a practice unheard of in most countries. The concept began mein early 2023 with a digital installation and bilingual workshop titled Memento Objects 纪念物 at X Virtual, X Museum Beijing. The project further took shape during a residency at GAZELL.iO, where she developed the first editions. Eye Exercise (Miss America) was commissioned by Gemma Projects.

In an interview ith Mindy Seu, Carrie mentions: As a child, I remember seeing posters around the school building that read, “If you don't protect your vision, you'll lose at the game of life before it even begins.” It was a lot of pressure, packaged within this institutionalized wellness routine. A question that comes up for me is whether this is care, or control... I think of this series as a way to process these childhood experiences, where each exercise was less about vision protection and more about uncovering different fantasies related to identity, girlhood and power.”

On view at 3:e Våningen / Gothenburg International Biennial of Art, curated by C-print.

Installation View, Courtesy of 3e Våningen. Photos: Ekaterina Lukoshkova

Read On Uncanny Acts of Subtle Defiance

Memento Objects 纪念物 at X Virtual, X Museum Beijing

Carrie Chen Info Works Primavera 春 Eye Exercise 眼保健操Temporal Portrait 时间肖像 FLUTTER 虫飞薨薨 COLLUM Myth VR Teaching Advanced Visual Design Avatars, Myths & Fantasies Design

Carrie Chen

Info

Works
Primavera 春
Eye Exercise 眼保健操
Temporal Portrait 时间肖像
FLUTTER 虫飞薨薨
COLLUM
Myth VR

Teaching
Advanced Visual Design
Avatars, Myths & Fantasies

Design