Chi Penghas utilized traditional folklore legend –“Journey to the West”, and has integrated this with his childhood memory, the growing pains and joys, and his observation of and thinking about the reality. He has dexterously and amply used the new media – digital photography – to present, like slides, his personal dilemma and predicament, thus resulting in the meaningful modal fascination of his series.
Sensitivity to contemporary cultural circumstances will result in the change in visual language of artistic concepts, methodology, media and linguistic approach. Chi Peng’s “Journey to the West” has given us a modern version of the legend “The Monkey King – A Sage next to Heaven”, a self-imagination that accompanies his life experience and his recollection, a unique “alien territory” that is closely bound with contemporary Chinese life. It is a dramatic magic story that belongs to history and memory. It is a legend of today and legends have their own powers.