As Borges once said, “Censorship is the mother of metaphor.” This 16mm structural film explores how state control breeds its own linguistic and visual resistance. Created in response to China’s “zero-COVID” policy—with its harsh lockdowns, relentless testing, and severe restrictions that tragically culminated in the Ürümqi fire—this project treats developed image-less Ektachrome as an “unclean” object in need of cleansing. By applying chlorine dioxide to film surfaces—following government disinfection guidelines during the pandemic—the work transforms physical material into a metaphor for censorship and information control in mainland China. Untitled Film Disinfection Project examines the delicate intersection of public health measures, state control, and artistic resistance.
