Scroll of Walking Through Los Angeles Street

Yujian CUi

Donald Trump’s “Chinese Virus” Tweet like a stone dropped into the water, created continuous waves of Anti-Chinese, even Anti-Asian movements. When I got to Los Angeles, the “Anti-Asian” movement in Los Angeles still had not ended. I walked on the street, and some strangers pointed at me and said: “Back to China!” I was confused and had no idea what was going on. I watched the news online, about Asian people being attacked, robbed, and even killed by other people. The fresh feeling of this city was replaced by fear and insecurity. Finally, all the feelings in my head exploded when I saw the Chinese American Museum on Los Angeles Street. This building, full of the memories of Chinese Americans, just stands there. On the history road where the Los Angeles Chinese Massacre of 1871 took place. I couldn’t describe the feeling the moment I saw the building. Maybe angry, maybe sad. I decided to record things that happened to me or other Asians. Describe the place we were — Walking Through Los Angeles Street.


This work combines eastern and western art forms together, using photography as a medium, showing the concept of Chinese painting. Making the same person appear in different places in the same photo by using panoramic shots – shooting different parts of the place and putting them together. This concept was widely used in traditional Chinese Shan-Shui paintings. From left to right, a vivid story appears in the audience's mind. It’s such a long and huge print that made many audiences step closer and try to see the details of this print, from left to right, normally. After that, the audience may be curious about the full frame of the print, then they have to step back, and repeat the above process. During this process, the audience continuously changes their angle to see the same photograph. That is the same way to watch traditional Chinese scroll paintings (but normally seen from right to left). 

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My Hometown