When Disco Lost Its Fever: Photography Inspired by Club Culture and Contemporary Staged Photography

In the haunting dreamscapes of contemporary Chinese photographer Chen Wei, now-lifeless disco balls recall the day they once spun to the beat of music so spirited that even the strongest dancers struggled to keep in step. These poignant scenes were not discovered on happenstance, however. Inspired by the club culture of contemporary China and the staged, cinematic compositions of photographers like Cindy Sherman and Gregory Crewdson, Wei’s scenes of obsolescence were crafted piece-by-piece—imagined, sketched, and executed within his studio—to recall memories and traces of history in narratives equal parts nightmare and fantasy.