The Periphery of the Base

• Zhou Tao
• 53 min
• China
• 2024
• Documentary

The stark landscape of the Gobi Desert serves as a backdrop for a thought-provoking reflection on labor and human expansion, in this mesmerizing experimental documentary.

The sand dunes stretch as far as the eye can see as the camera quietly pans across a vast industrial project in northwestern China and the unforgiving working conditions of the Gobi Desert. Some workers take a break while others move between their shifts and the tent camps they call home, sheltering from the frequent sandstorms. As darkness falls, abstract lights emerge—perhaps from nature, perhaps from industry—while birds glide above a world in transformation. What initially seems like pure observation soon becomes a meditative, thought-provoking, and almost hypnotic cinematic experience by Chinese artist Zhou Tao, who has explored the interplay between humans and the landscapes that surround them in several of his works.

- Rasmus Kilander

• Dokumentär
• Experimentell
• Miljö
• Natur
• Samhälle