Video still: Li Xiaofei
Assembly Line
A longtime student of Taoism, Li Xiaofei believes the contemporary world is obsessed with rationality at the expense of imagination, artifice at the expense of nature. His ongoing Assembly Line project reflects on the interactions between these opposites. Humans are the opposite of machines in almost every respect, yet on the assembly line they often seem to merge. Li Xiaofei’s project Assembly Line consists of several years of work and depth studies, and more than 50 factory visits. Assembly Line presents a multifaceted exploration of life in the land of manufacturing. The work combines interview-style videos with workers and factory foremen intercut with luscious scenes of factory interiors, spinning wheels, turning cranks and flashing lights. During a residence at Pikene på Broen he visited industrial complexes and seafood farms and put them in direct context to working mentality and conditions in his home country.
Xiaofei lives and works in Shanghai, China. He graduated in 1998 from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. In 2007 he founded the Fei Contemporary Art Center (FCAC) Shanghai and in 2010 he became Art Director of the Zendai Contemporary Art Exhibition Hall. Li Xiaofei has received several grants the last years.