At only 38 years old, Cao Fei’s work already expresses a tragically deep understanding of the world’s shortcomings. Exploring the experiences of young Chinese citizens as they cope with a rapidly changing society, Cao uses the intersection between fantasy and reality to animate her work. This is exemplified here in RMB City: A Second Life City Planning No. 7 and RMB City: A Second Life City Planning No. 10 from the artist’s Second Life (SL) series. Using software that allows users to create their own three-dimensional worlds, Second Life was launched by Linden Lab in 2003. These images are snapshots from Cao’s own design on the program which she titled RMB City. Cao considers RMB City to be “an experiment exposing the creative relationship between real and urban spaces… [And] a reflection of China’s urban and cultural explosion.”

While the imagery in this series is in alignment with the rest of Cao Fei’s body of work, the way in which she chooses to express her ideas on China’s overpopulation and decline in public health differs slightly from her earlier pieces. She is well known for her technologically-driven pieces, many of which including video installations, so it is unsurprising that Cao chose to explore virtual design; however the extravagance of these images are somewhat unique within her oeuvre. With wild flames exploding from the jumbled and chaotic “city” and giant pandas orbiting curiously in the atmosphere above, Cao’s message here can be interpreted as a cry to bring a halt to China’s rapid urbanization.