In 2007, Cao Fei developed and built the fully functional virtual RMB City in Second Life. Since then, she has continuously commented on the hope and post-apocalyptic despair accompanying technological and societal developments in China and globally. In the video Rumba II: Nomad, we watch a group of automated robotic vacuum cleaners as they roam around a concrete construction site in Beijing. The futile attempt of cleaning up the rubble functions as a commentary on the continual loop of renewal and demise, the rapid growth of urban centers, the belief in progress driving constructions such as these, and the feeling of imminent material and psychological collapse.

#urbanization #vacuumcleaner #grow #demolish #collapse #smartcity

photos: Nysos Vasilopoulos, 6th Athens Biennale 2018 ANTI