2020.4 EXISTENCE

There will be one day we go back to our "normal life", and what will that be? Would it be the same as the life we used to live or will it be something new, as a lesson from the pandemic, to make our existence better?

At this unprecedented time of pandemic, all of our life are affected one way or the other and we seem to be trapped in quarantine. Ironically, due to the pause of many human activities and the common threat, many urgent problems we are facing in this era seem to find a temporary solution: CO2 emission has been declined dramatically, ecosystem in Venice is recovering thanks to the decay of tourism, the international transportation of medical supplement leaving political and ideology difference aside...... Why the nature is healing itself during our absence? Why we can`t coordinate only until the global disaster hit us? What will be changed at the first day when "social distancing" is abrogated? How would COVID-19 change our notion of public space? The time of quarantine and pandemic provides rare opportunity to reevaluate and interrogate our very existence, from each individual to the entire human race.

I selected 36 of my previous photography works and curated them in 2 sets, 18 photos each: the existence of human and the after/non-existence of human, which leaves only trace. I hope it could inspire and encourage us to use the time in isolation and think about our (human) relationship with the earth, the nature and with ourselves.

Shikun Zhu received his B.A. in Urban Design from Tianjin University. He is currently pursuing a master degree in Art, Design and Public Domain (ADPD) at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He has worked as exhibition designer, curator and design consultant for contemporary art exhibitions in Beijing prior to his master degree. Zhu specializes in multimedia art and interdisciplinary design including installation, game design, photography. His works can be found on several publications including Peripheries Journal (US), Design and Designing (China), and Club Donny (Netherlands).