| The character “Ã¥âºÂ§” has been completely transformed, and has an absolutely different meaning than it did before. In ancient Chinese history, “Ã¥âºÂ§” meant “brightness.” Now it has been altered by the media, by us—generations born in the 80s and 90s, to mean profound thinking, or romance and passion. I feel the character seems to have been made particularly for our generation. People in our generation constantly look lost, as if they have so much to say but don’t know where to start, like the world is being unfair to them. As a young person born in the late 80s, I often have this strong desire to express myself, like I was abandoned by the art world that is full of established and achieved artists. | 
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Tan Zhen-Si
Tan Zhen-Si, Patriotism on May 1, 2008, 2008. Courtesy of Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art.The character “Ã¥âºÂ§” has been completely transformed, and has an absolutely different meaning than it did before. In ancient Chinese history, “Ã¥âºÂ§” meant “brightness.” Now it has been altered by the media, by us—generations born in the 80s and 90s, to mean profound thinking, or romance and passion. I feel the character seems to have been made particularly for our generation. People in our generation constantly look lost, as if they have so much to say but don’t know where to start, like the world is being unfair to them. As a young person born in the late 80s, I often have this strong desire to express myself, like I was abandoned by the art world that is full of established and achieved artists. I wanted to broaden my horizon with something that I can relate to as a person born in the 80s, something that could help me assert my existence in this world. That’s why, in Patriotism on May 1, 2008, I used a variety of classic toys familiar to my generation when we were little.
