In this piece, "Ineffective Socializing" takes the form of a swarming colony. The artist borrows the penguin—the quintessential symbol of Chinese internet culture—and translates its natural huddling into a scene of digital gridlock. > These frantic, jittery creatures are the avatars of our modern selves, lost in the noise of "99+" pings. Through a style echoing urban graffiti, the artist captures the chaotic entropy of digital interaction—fragmented, loud, and buried under a pile of emojis. While it mimics a study of nature, it is truly a visualization of our collective virtual psyche. In this crowded spectacle, there is immense noise, but a total absence of meaningful connection—they are together, yet they have nothing to say.

Fu Baoyi (born 2001 in Zhuji, Zhejiang; based in Hangzhou) works across multiple media to deconstruct established modes of perception through humor and irony. His practice examines the alienation and reconstruction of traditional culture and ethical systems within contemporary contexts. Focusing on cultural symbols emerging from China’s social transformation—such as martial arts, folk traditions, and internet memes—as well as reimagined narratives from premodern zhiguai (accounts of the strange) literature in relation to modern history, Fu employs absurd visual narratives to reveal the tensions between collective and individual identity.
Influenced by internet subcultures and youth communities, his recent works adopt sharp, nonsensical metaphors to critique consumerism and the illusory nature of historical narratives. Using everyday imagery as a vehicle, Fu further interrogates the relationship between individual expression and lived reality.