# Cocktail Canonical: https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013 Cocktail, 2013. Archival inkjet print. He Fa’s role: Artist: He Fa. 2013 / Archival inkjet print Photographs taken while hiking are ordered by JPEG file size, allowing sky and ground to emerge from a digital sequence. Cocktail, 2013. Image from the artist’s portfolio. Artist He Fa Date 2013 Medium Archival inkjet print Dimensions 180 × 120 cm; 180 × 100 cm (two further works) ## Work record Cocktail, 2013. Archival inkjet print. He Fa’s role: Artist: He Fa. Work / series Cocktail Date 2013 Medium Archival inkjet print He Fa’s role Artist: He Fa Catalogue section Selected works Cite this record: Cocktail · 2013 · Artist: He Fa · [https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013) WORK WORLD / OPEN FROM HERE What landscape appears when file size sets the order? ## The “weight” of a photograph Cocktail orders photographs according to the size of their compressed JPEG files. Images made in the mountains become files, then gather through sorting. The artist describes this as “settling or floating”: digital files appear to acquire material weight, and an arrangement of sky and ground emerges from their order. ## Three images The portfolio records three works titled Cocktail, all dated 2013. They share a procedure while forming different distributions of colour and image. They are presented here in portfolio order with their respective dimensions; no new numbers are added to the original titles. ## Ordering files, reading a landscape The three portfolio pages retain different degrees of separation between sky and ground: page 8 has a clearer blue-grey upper and green lower field; green and dark areas spread more widely on page 9; on page 10, a finer grid shifts from blue-black to brown-green. Small photographs remain legible as thumbnail views while forming bands of colour at a larger scale. Sorting supplies an arrangement; reading it as landscape also depends on habits of recognizing sky and land. Archive reading, 30 September 2026 · Site editorial interpretation, not an artist’s statement. Sources: He Fa Portfolio (PDF), pp. 8–10. English is an editorial translation; document titles are translated where needed. ARTIST’S STATEMENT / PORTFOLIO Photographs taken while hiking are arranged according to their file sizes after JPEG compression. The photographs seem to acquire a virtual weight, like materials in the real world, and begin to settle or float. Sky and earth emerge naturally. Translated from the artist’s Chinese portfolio statement. ## Works & details Cocktail, 2013, 180cm × 100cm. Portfolio page 9. Cocktail, 2013, 180cm × 100cm. Portfolio page 10. ## Archive note Prepared from page 8 of the artist’s retained portfolio, He Fa Portfolio 3. Chinese titles follow the source; English titles are translations for this site unless already given in English. Images retain their full composition. Dimensions refer to the version listed in that portfolio. ## Continue exploring ### Central Placing the sun among the mountains rearranges a space that photography cannot ordinarily show. ### Wu Works titled Wu reorganize photographs across landscapes, portraits, coloured points and writing. CLOSE READING / 2026 CURATORIAL INTERPRETATION ## Cocktail What landscape appears when file size sets the order? ### Begin with what happens in the work Photographs are arranged according to their file sizes after JPEG compression. The portfolio records three works under the same title, with different dimensions. Cocktail brings a usually hidden technical property forward. A photograph depicts something and occupies a number of bytes. That value depends on image information and compression conditions; it is not the actual weight of a natural scene. Once assigned an ordering task, however, it determines which photographs become neighbours. A machine-readable difference becomes a visual difference that viewers can read as sky, ground, settling or floating. The procedure hands part of composition to a rule without removing the author. The selected photographs, compression settings and mapping from order to surface can all affect the outcome. The surviving statement does not specify those parameters, and a presentation should preserve that gap. The work opens a question about how judgment is delegated: instead of asking which photograph best resembles a landscape, one invents a condition and then looks at what it produces. ### The limits of this reading The original algorithm has not been established as reproducible. “Virtual weight” is the artist’s metaphor, not physical mass. Based on He Fa Portfolio 3, pp. 8–10. [Work archive and source documents](#work-record) TAKE A PATH ACROSS ## Other paths from this work. Rules and choices Changing the basis of an order [Cocktail](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013) ↔ [P4 Screenings: Reflections Between Us](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/p4-screenings) Cocktail orders photographs by file size; P4 Screenings rotates selections through four themes. Both establish ordering conditions, but one forms a static image while the other also lets participants propose their own moving images. 2013 / Archival inkjet print 2020 / Screenings, collective discussion and an ongoing participatory practice Read the source materials Artist’s statement [Artist statement in the portfolio ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013#artist-statement) The portfolio statement explicitly makes JPEG file size the sorting criterion and describes settling and floating; numerical sorting is not equated with judgement of people. Period document [From screening to self-screening ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/p4-screenings#chapter-1) The September 2020 rules specify four rotating film themes, participants’ own videos and the decision not to record discussions. [Continue from this work ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/crossings#work=p4-screenings) Rules and choices ### Changing the basis of an order [Cocktail](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013) ↔ [P4 Screenings: Reflections Between Us](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/p4-screenings) Cocktail orders photographs by file size; P4 Screenings rotates selections through four themes. Both establish ordering conditions, but one forms a static image while the other also lets participants propose their own moving images. 2013 / Archival inkjet print 2020 / Screenings, collective discussion and an ongoing participatory practice Artist’s statement [Artist statement in the portfolio ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013#artist-statement) The portfolio statement explicitly makes JPEG file size the sorting criterion and describes settling and floating; numerical sorting is not equated with judgement of people. The portfolio statement explicitly makes JPEG file size the sorting criterion and describes settling and floating; numerical sorting is not equated with judgement of people. Period document [From screening to self-screening ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/p4-screenings#chapter-1) The September 2020 rules specify four rotating film themes, participants’ own videos and the decision not to record discussions. The September 2020 rules specify four rotating film themes, participants’ own videos and the decision not to record discussions. Rules and choices What kind of outcome does a rule produce [Cocktail](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013) ↔ [Final Solution](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/final-solution) Cocktail lets file values determine position; Final Solution uses questioning and votes to decide which characters remain. Both delegate judgments to procedures, but ordering images and producing consequences for performers cannot be treated as equivalent. 2013 / Archival inkjet print 2021 / Participatory theatre, a deliberation game and process documentation Read the source materials Artist’s statement [Artist statement in the portfolio ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013#artist-statement) The portfolio statement explicitly makes JPEG file size the sorting criterion and describes settling and floating; numerical sorting is not equated with judgement of people. Period document [Giving the assembly the decision ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/final-solution#chapter-1) The May 2021 call and He Fa’s July account document questioning, voting, character departure and transcription with reflection; version differences remain explicit. [Continue from this work ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/crossings#work=final-solution) Rules and choices ### What kind of outcome does a rule produce [Cocktail](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013) ↔ [Final Solution](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/final-solution) Cocktail lets file values determine position; Final Solution uses questioning and votes to decide which characters remain. Both delegate judgments to procedures, but ordering images and producing consequences for performers cannot be treated as equivalent. 2013 / Archival inkjet print 2021 / Participatory theatre, a deliberation game and process documentation Artist’s statement [Artist statement in the portfolio ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013#artist-statement) The portfolio statement explicitly makes JPEG file size the sorting criterion and describes settling and floating; numerical sorting is not equated with judgement of people. The portfolio statement explicitly makes JPEG file size the sorting criterion and describes settling and floating; numerical sorting is not equated with judgement of people. Period document [Giving the assembly the decision ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/final-solution#chapter-1) The May 2021 call and He Fa’s July account document questioning, voting, character departure and transcription with reflection; version differences remain explicit. The May 2021 call and He Fa’s July account document questioning, voting, character departure and transcription with reflection; version differences remain explicit. Rules and choices Why photographs become neighbours [Cocktail](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013) ↔ [Shanshui](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/shanshui) Shanshui reassembles views gathered through climbing; Cocktail lets JPEG file size determine adjacency. Both construct a whole from many photographs, but their arrangements refer respectively to an experience of looking and a technical value. 2013 / Archival inkjet print 2012 / Photography, digital montage, light boxes Read the source materials Artist’s statement [1,025 photographs and the trace of walking ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/shanshui#graduation-process-03) The statement on defence page 7 describes an experiment with 1,025 Siguniang photographs, combining different viewpoints as traces of walking; that number is not generalized to every work. Artist’s statement [Artist statement in the portfolio ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013#artist-statement) The portfolio statement explicitly makes JPEG file size the sorting criterion and describes settling and floating; numerical sorting is not equated with judgement of people. [Continue from this work ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/crossings#work=shanshui) Rules and choices ### Why photographs become neighbours [Cocktail](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013) ↔ [Shanshui](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/shanshui) Shanshui reassembles views gathered through climbing; Cocktail lets JPEG file size determine adjacency. Both construct a whole from many photographs, but their arrangements refer respectively to an experience of looking and a technical value. 2013 / Archival inkjet print 2012 / Photography, digital montage, light boxes Artist’s statement [1,025 photographs and the trace of walking ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/shanshui#graduation-process-03) The statement on defence page 7 describes an experiment with 1,025 Siguniang photographs, combining different viewpoints as traces of walking; that number is not generalized to every work. The statement on defence page 7 describes an experiment with 1,025 Siguniang photographs, combining different viewpoints as traces of walking; that number is not generalized to every work. Artist’s statement [Artist statement in the portfolio ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013#artist-statement) The portfolio statement explicitly makes JPEG file size the sorting criterion and describes settling and floating; numerical sorting is not equated with judgement of people. The portfolio statement explicitly makes JPEG file size the sorting criterion and describes settling and floating; numerical sorting is not equated with judgement of people. Rules and choices Which judgments pass to a procedure [Cocktail](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013) ↔ [Fafalish](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/fafalish) Cocktail lets JPEG file size determine which photographs become neighbours; Fafalish makes one transcription the input for another conversion. Both delegate part of a judgment, while ordering photographs and repeatedly changing sounds and meanings remain distinct operations. 2013 / Archival inkjet print 2017 / Language, video, printed text Read the source materials Period document [Chinese poem ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/fafalish#chapter-3) The CCA exhibition statement supplies six transformations: Chinese poetry, literal English translation, accented reading, pinyin transcription, Chinese rewriting and machine translation into English. Artist’s statement [Artist statement in the portfolio ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013#artist-statement) The portfolio statement explicitly makes JPEG file size the sorting criterion and describes settling and floating; numerical sorting is not equated with judgement of people. [Continue from this work ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/crossings#work=fafalish) Rules and choices ### Which judgments pass to a procedure [Cocktail](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013) ↔ [Fafalish](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/fafalish) Cocktail lets JPEG file size determine which photographs become neighbours; Fafalish makes one transcription the input for another conversion. Both delegate part of a judgment, while ordering photographs and repeatedly changing sounds and meanings remain distinct operations. 2013 / Archival inkjet print 2017 / Language, video, printed text Period document [Chinese poem ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/fafalish#chapter-3) The CCA exhibition statement supplies six transformations: Chinese poetry, literal English translation, accented reading, pinyin transcription, Chinese rewriting and machine translation into English. The CCA exhibition statement supplies six transformations: Chinese poetry, literal English translation, accented reading, pinyin transcription, Chinese rewriting and machine translation into English. Artist’s statement [Artist statement in the portfolio ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/cocktail-2013#artist-statement) The portfolio statement explicitly makes JPEG file size the sorting criterion and describes settling and floating; numerical sorting is not equated with judgement of people. The portfolio statement explicitly makes JPEG file size the sorting criterion and describes settling and floating; numerical sorting is not equated with judgement of people. FROM HERE, ELSEWHERE ## Passages between works [Who decides](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/paths/who-arranges) File size replaces depicted meaning as the ordering rule; that replacement remains an artistic decision. File size replaces depicted meaning as the ordering rule; that replacement remains an artistic decision. ### Related records in the archive [Central ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/central-2013) 2013 [Wu ↗](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/work/wu-2013-2014) 2013–2014