Same Old, Brand New

2015 / sound and large-scale led screens / 5mins / size variable
Sound by Artist Dickson Dee
Co-commissioned by Art Basel and the International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong

Same Old, Brand New is a new work by Cao Fei that references video games, primarily from the 1980s, which have become an integral part of popular and youth culture in Hong Kong and across the world. With this video installation, Cao Fei attempts to turn collective memories into a current reality. The work follows Cao’s previous multi-media projects that explore the dreams and aspirations of a younger Chinese generation and their strategies for overcoming and escaping reality. Cao Fei mixes social commentary, popular aesthetics, references to Surrealism and a documentary approach to reflect on the rapid and chaotic changes that are occurring in Chinese society today.

Visible from numerous locations across Hong Kong, including the HKCEC, Same Old, Brand New can be witnessed by people all over the city.

Same Old, Brand New is presented during the 2015 edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong. Each night from March 13 to 17, 2015*, Same Old, Brand New is shown across the entire façade of Hong Kong’s iconic 490 meter high International Commerce Centre (ICC) on the Kowloon harbor front.