Li Jinghu Counting Stars, 2005 Installation Roof tiles Dimensions variable Many works of Li Jinghu lay in his idiosyncratic responses to minutiae changes occurring within the domain of Dongguan. In the small town of Chang’an where he has grown up and stayed until now – he has witnessed immense changes, often punctuated with a deep sense of loss and instability. When Li Jinghu’s father returned to Dongguan after the millennium, cropland, hillsides and lakes had all vanished. He also tore down the ancestral house to construct a new building, renting it out to migrant workers - this is a reality typical to the time after the 90s in China. Li Jinghu collected roof tiles from these old torn down houses, cutting them into stars - cherishing a time when as a child, he once sat on rooftops counting stars. The backdrop to this nostalgic sentiment in fact is a rather ruthless economic reality.
