Statement

One Day as an Emperor (一日为皇) was inspired by the idea that systems of suppression and surveillance are ultimately temporary and subject to historical change. History, which flows like a river of time, renders power “enthroned,” while the subjectivity of the “individual” remains historical and erasable. In a totalitarian society and a world of digital surveillance, personal identity becomes increasingly abstract, at times reduced to digital data and programmatic symbols.

This erasure of identity aligns with Foucault’s idea that “…man would be erased, like a face drawn in sand at the edge of the sea.” Digital technology transforms lived individual identity into data, while language itself becomes a symbol that can be encoded, processed, and manipulated. "One Day as an Emperor - 一日为皇" builds a virtual, repetitive ceremony within this context that serves as a metaphor for totalitarianism, surveillance, and digital identity, as well as a reflection of the history, where both power and individual identity will ultimately dissolve in the face of time.