White Rabbit Gallery in New South Wales, Australia, is currently presenting XSWL, extending from December 18, 2024 – May 18, 2025. The show brings together works by over 20 artists from China, Taiwan and Mongolia, who grapple with the contemporary social and political realities of China, with a close focus on the country’s internet landscape. The exhibition is curated by David Williams, curator at White Rabbit Gallery, who joins STIR for an interview discussing some of the works on view and tying the show to China’s politics.

Chinese government censorship and constant scrutiny across communication platforms, such as the popular WeChat, have rendered it necessary to use acronyms and digital stickers to address contentious topics. One seemingly benign acronym is xiào sǐ wǒle (XSWL), which means ‘laughing to death’ and is comparable to the widely used ‘LOL’. However, the exhibition’s framework suggests a much darker meaning beneath the surface. XSWL points to the black humour that has come to define China’s contemporary sàng culture (culture of mourning), composed of youth who feel an overwhelming sense of despondency. This is primarily due to a lack of work, rising inequality and the Chinese government’s continued denial or obfuscation of serious issues such as unemployment, that have been well documented by outlets such as Bloomberg.

[PARADI$E BITCH] mirrors the times and the internet too in an age where we are bombarded by so many different influences, subcultures, ideas, styles, information and more, all at once. – David Williams, curator, White Rabbit Gallery

In keeping with the mirthless humour that is typical of the sàng generation, many of the artists in the art exhibition have been chosen for the dark realities that their seemingly cheerful works mask. Williams points to one particularly disturbing example of this when he discusses Taiwanese artist Huang Hai-Hsin’s painting series Indoor Practice (2012). The colourful works seem to depict families playing games such as peek-a-boo. However, as the curator explains, “They illustrate the ‘duck and cover’ drills that are part of the civil defence strategy of the Taiwanese government.” Taken in its proper context, the children depicted covering their eyes in these works take on a rather morbid tone: Perhaps they are trying to shield their eyes from the flash of a nuclear bomb? Williams continues, quoting the artist, who said, “These trainings are meant to prepare us for an uncertain future, but in the moment, what we feel and perceive is a mix of emotions that is somewhat eerie and difficult to describe.” Interestingly, not all people in the paintings appear to be Asian, with some clearly Caucasian. The artist’s message seems to be that in the event of another great war, the Taiwanese won’t be the only ones affected. The violence of large-scale geopolitical conflict will extend far beyond the contested island nation’s borders.

Returning to Sàng, youthculture connects to the tǎng píng (lying flat) movement, which advocates for radical rest in the face of Chinese societal pressures. As the exhibition’s webpage informs us, tǎng píng contrasts sharply with Maoist Communism’s vilification of rest and relaxation as bourgeois pastimes. One prominent example of the contemporary pressures that Chinese youth reject is the brutal “996” work routine, which involves professionals working from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, six days a week, and for diminishing returns. Strangely, this exploitative practice goes against China’s own labour laws. Youth participating in sàng and tǎng píng typically abandon all hope for gainful employment and instead choose to remain indoors and online, completely submerged in Chinese pop culture through the internet.

China’s pop culture scene, much like the West’s, is typified by rampant consumerism and celebrity worship. Chinese artist Tianzhuo Chen comments on its absurdity in the Cantonese rap video PARADI$E BITCH (2014), which features the Asian Twins—two dancers who are affected by dwarfism—revelling in their material wealth and leching at a colourful central female performer who blends voguing with Japanese Butoh. Her suggestive gestures hint at a suicidal undercurrent while the twins drool and gyrate in step with the video’s blistering soundtrack. The result is hypnotic—almost meditatively so. Williams discusses this, telling STIR, “Tianzhuo Chen is an example of an artist whose practice embodies a kind of postmodern pastiche, using irony, parody and blending ‘high’ and ‘low’ pop-cultural sources with other historical references…[PARADI$E BITCH] mirrors the times and the internet too in an age where we are bombarded by so many different influences, subcultures, ideas, styles, information and more, all at once.”

White Rabbit Gallery’s offering of contemporary art is as compelling as it is disconcerting. It gives Western audiences a rare look into the psychology of youth on the other side of the Great Firewall. The picture is a bleak one, presented gratuitously, that tells the story of an alienated generation that has been exhausted by overwork and systemic apathy.

‘XSWL’ is on from December 18, 2024 – May 18, 2025, at White Rabbit Gallery in New South Wales, Australia.

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position of STIR or its editors.