Xing Danwen and the Chinese Modernization

This Chinese photographer is one of the most famous artist in China for what concerns the Contemporary scene. Her main subjects include: dislocation between cultural status, conflicts between globalization and traditions, environmental issues created by the development, the urban drama between desire and reality.
Fiction, truth and illusion often play an important role in her works. I choose some of her photos from the series Duplication and DisConnexion:

Some reports claim that the first human has already been cloned. How far can this go? Are these scientific developments devoid of moral imperative? I am curious, surprised and disturbed. I find this scientific aptitude scary.

      Duplication 2003:

The toys are assembled with each part representing a “universal” beauty that parallels the ways in which we strive for beauty in our own lives. With this body of work, I am asking if this type of cloning - the manufacturing of aesthetic ideals - also has an effect on our values as human beings? Is genetic cloning a natural extension of the subtle forms of social cloning we participate in? And is this a positive development or an affront to nature?

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Modernization is the main topic of contemporary China and Shanghai totally recalls this concept.
With a body of work that comprises over 40 images, Xing Danwen wants to discuss the immensity of the problem as well as the unnumbered details in those pictures. 

Modernization and globalization shape urban development. In China, I have experienced and witnessed the changes that have taken place under the influence of Western modernity. These changes have contributed to a strong and powerful push for development in my country, but at the same time these forces are complicit in creating the environmental and social nightmare experienced in remote corners of China. 

      DisConnexion 2002-2003: 

We reside in the Information and Communication Era and therefore we rely, extensively, on these high-tech facilities in our modern life. Machines become deeply rooted in our daily activities, replacing the old ways of doing things. Millions of newly purchased products replace millions of discarded ones.