Shanghai Covid-19 Lockdown Log captures the tension and resilience of life under Shanghai's strict lockdown. Presented as a large-format printed newspaper augmented with AR, the work combines personal window-side footage with online fragments—images, texts, and censored news—collected during the pandemic. Viewers can scan the print to unlock hidden videos, audio, and interactive layers, blurring the line between physical and digital storytelling.
I watched the sky shift and white magnolias bloom,
The only signs of passing days.
The screen stayed closed, sealing me in.
My gaze lingered until focus dissolved:
Was it a window, or a screen? Real, or imagined?
Newspapers chronicled the daily COVID-19 case counts in Shanghai during the lockdown, alongside the obscured social realities — shortages of medical resources, chaotic conditions in temporary hospitals, unequal distribution of supplies, and soaring prices. People turned to short videos to seek help and voice their concerns, yet among them were those spreading false information. Videos deemed to "disrupt social order" quietly vanished, replaced by entertainment news and celebrity gossip dominating the trending lists, veiling the deeper truths and unheard voices.
