LIJIN ZHU | 朱栎瑾

© Lijin Zhu 2026



Works |  作品


       There is a kind of moving forward that is
       constantly becoming an outsider.
       There is a kind of going back that is leaving.
       有一种前行是出走
       有一种回去是离开

       Time Forgotten by Speed - Speed Animal
       被速度遗忘的时间——速度动物

       The Direction Between Directions
       方向之间的方向

       The Desire  for  Correction Will  Keep  the
       Dialogue Going
       矫正欲会让对话延续的

       Sunken
       匿名者凹陷

       A Screw that Never Rusts
       永不生锈的螺丝钉

       Three, Two, One
       三，二，一

       We need imaginary enemies
       我们需要假想敌

       The Sketch
       写生

       Not Lit – Lit Point
       点不着点着点
       
       The Other Side, Same Side
       另一边，同一边


Project | 项目
Topo-graphies |连通的形象
About | 关于
Contact | 联系














There is a kind of moving forward that is constantly becoming an outsider
There is a kind of going back that is leaving
有一种前行是出走
有一种回去是离开

5.1 surround sound, Two-channel video installation with polyethylene tarpaulin, emulsion paint /  5.1声道立体声， 双通道影像装置
（聚乙烯篷布，乳胶漆）, 700cm × 258cm × 300cm，2025

—> Click the image to play the video/ 点击图片播放视频

 
      


       

   
   
Details
            



                               
















                                                                                     







Just a ten-minute drive from my home in Shanghai, I stumbled upon an almost forgotten village - it was mislabeled on the map, had only three buildings, and there was little trace of it to be found on the internet. A neighborhood clerk told me that it was not a village, but just the remnants of unfinished demolitions - “like sediment that eventually sinks to the bottom of the water.” So I started collecting stories from the residents there.

My parents are from the countryside, and I grew up in a four-room shared house in Shanghai that housed fifteen people, always feeling caught between two places - neither cosmopolitan Shanghai nor the countryside. In the video, I contrast this feeling with a journey from central London to its fringes, where the skyline disappears from glass tower blocks into abandoned shacks and suburban cemeteries. The text in the video describes the story of the urban village and my father's journey from rural to urban life.

从我在上海的家骑自行车十分钟的地方，我偶然发现了一个几乎被遗忘的村庄，它只有三栋房子——而且在地图上被标错了名称，在网上也几乎找不到它的踪迹。那里租客多，房东少，很多租客是收废品的人。一位社区书记告诉我，那个被遗忘的地方不是一个村庄，只是未完成拆迁的残留物——“就像沉积物一样，最终会沉入水底”。这个被当地居民当作家的地方，在基层管理者的眼中是一个城市的未来中应当被淘汰和抹去的地方，于是，我开始收集那里居民关于家的故事。

中国的村庄和西方的村庄不一样，中国的村庄在人们的心中有复杂的感觉，既有对家的向往，又有落后愚昧的刻板印象。人们既想走出那样一些落后的地方在大城市找到出路，又普遍有一种乡土情结，觉得只有家乡才是真正的家。回看我自己的家庭，我的父亲也来自村庄，我成长于中国的城市化。我是在上海的一个四室一厅的合租房里长大的，那里住了 15 个人，我总是感觉被夹在两个地方——既不是国际大都市上海，也不是农村。


There is a kind of moving forward that is moving away
有一种前进是出走

There is a kind of moving forward that is moving away is a video featuring text information I collected from villagers' stories and my own family's migration narrative. In the video, I contrast this feeling with a journey from central London to its outskirts, where the skyline transitions from glass towers to abandoned shanties and suburban cemeteries. The text describes the story of the urban village and my father's journey from rural to urban life.

“有一种前进是出走”是一个空间影像装置，视频中的文本信息是我收集到的村民的故事和我自己家庭的从农村里来到上海的迁徙故事。在视频中，我将这种感觉与从伦敦市中心到伦敦边缘的旅程进行了对比——天际线从玻璃塔楼消失，变成了废弃的棚屋和郊区墓地。视频中的文字描述了城中村的故事和我父亲从农村到城市的生活历程。






















There is a kind of going back that is leaving
有一种回去是离开


There is a kind of going back that is leaving is a sound piece featuring voices from different corners of space, accompanied by subtitles. 

Chose one of the stories I had collected from China’s urban villages, a story about 'whether or not to return,' and shared it with people living in different parts of London, asking them what they thought and inviting them to share stories they had encountered. 

I found that the story of 'whether or not to return' is also a story of 'whether it can be retained.' People living in London didn’t understand the context of the Chinese story, but they told it in the context of their own lives. Listening to and telling stories connects situations from different places, while exchanging stories unfolds local narratives. This is a sound piece featuring voices from different corners of space, accompanied by subtitles.

“有一种回去是离开” 是一个从空间不同角落发声的声音作品，伴有字幕。我从中国城中村收集的故事中选择了一个关于'是否回归'的故事，与居住在伦敦不同地区的人们分享，询问他们的想法，并邀请他们分享他们遇到的故事。

我发现“是否回归”其实和“能否保留”息息相关。生活在伦敦的人们并不了解中国故事的背景，但他们结合自己的生活讲述了这个故事，揭示出这个故事的另一面——人们选择回与不回其实和他们留不留得住一些东西有关。回到故乡要面对的是经过这么多年那里的人事物变化也已经很大了，那里已经不再是自己曾经怀念的那个地方了。这个中国的无法回归的 故事，和一位伦敦女士不得不因大脑受伤的弟弟高额的carehome费用而卖掉弟弟的房子时其实是一样的，当弟弟的东西已经不在那个房子里的时候，那个房子已经完全不是原来的房子了。中国的故事和英国的故事由此联通了。听故事、讲故事将不同地方的情况联系了起来，而交流故事本身也展开了一些当地的问题。