Today, prosperity is within the reach of millions of Chinese whose ancestors had no hope of earthly comfort. Yet the dreamed-of golden age is as remote as ever. Material plenty and a measure of freedom have come at the price of greed, corruption and spiritual emptiness. For artists – arch-dreamers – the dissonance is an alarm bell.

In their eyes, the gods of East and West are colliding in a monumental mashup. The silent poor are oppressed by their own dreams. Venues that once offered escape are eerily empty, strewn with shattered glass. Glimpses of transcendence are bright hallucinations. Golden-chained gyrating dwarves lip-sync the ugly truth: heaven on earth is a Paradi$e Bitch.