Placelessness is an installation composed of modular white porcelain blocks, developed through a collaborative process of site-specific texture mapping in rural Huizhou. Working alongside local archaeological enthusiasts, I used silicone molds to systematically capture surface imprints from the decaying architectural remains of vernacular structures.

These imprints were then retranslated onto porcelain surfaces, forming a series of faux-historical building blocks. The work questions how “ancient towns” have become standardized, aestheticized templates within the broader logic of cultural tourism in contemporary China. The concept of placelessness, as introduced by human geographer Edward Relph, describes a condition in which spatial identity is eroded and replaced by homogenized visual codes. In many towns, the high cost of authentic restoration, combined with the commercial failure of preservation-based tourism, has led to a preference for demolition and facsimile reconstruction. Poured concrete and steel reinforcement become tools of architectural erasure—covering the organic irregularities of timber joinery and mortar with a seamless, inorganic finish. What once bore the marks of life, labor, and decay is now repackaged as a refined, performative simulation of history.