Repetition is a single-channel video that shows daily routines repeated day by day: swiping cards, waking up, taking trains, browsing Instagram, starting class, and working on a fixed schedule. Dong wonders “do people even care about having endless repetitions in their life?” He guesses one will eventually become less and less sensitive to repetitive actions. Through experience, the artist realizes he is obsessed with the repeated movements and ignores what he initially looked for.
As the project progresses, repetition turns from reality to a dream. The piece derives art from daily life and reveals current conditions of working as repetition. Each person is following the same work schedule every day and doing the same thing in the workplace, lacking creativity and vitality. Are the movements motivated by the individual’s enthusiasm or compliance?
Daily
Get in, get out
My life is messing around
Swipe in, swipe out
I don’t know what is going on
They say college life is happy
You will enjoy every day with party
But I am like a machine, so pathetic
Hoping others will free me from
being robotic
Get in, get out
My life is messing around
- Zhiheng Dong