ZK He

Blade Runner: 2049 is the sequel to Ridley Scott’s original Blade Runner released in 2017. The film continues the cyberpunk aesthetic and the quest for what defines humans, the director Denis Villeneuve, however, took a more detailed and timely lens to the sentient world-making than that in the original. One reason being that the CGI of cinema has developed greatly since the release of the original in 1979, special effects provide endless possibilities for filmmakers to work on. Another reason is that the imagination of a sentient world emerged in recent years, people no longer feel surprised about some of the technology showcased in the original because they have already come true: from sentient billboards that displayed customized advertisings to autopilot cars that can navigate themselves. In 2049, Villeneuve took one step further to expand the landscape of sentient technology to a non-human yet conscious character. Being one of the most exciting technologies in the film, JOI, a digital companion created by Wallace Corporation has been an important aid to the protagonist K as he set out to trace the first replicant-born child.

Joi first appears in the film when K comes back from a mission. Existing only with a hologram projector installed in K’s home, she prepared a virtual dinner for K and lit his cigarette with her finger tip. K later gave her an Emanator, which allows her to be portable. She was then taken to the rooftop where she “feels” the rain for the first time. As the story proceeds she helped K find the birth information at the station and insisted K to delete all her from the console and carry her only in the Emanator as K being hunted the LAPD, which might lead to permanent lost of data. At this stage, K has developed strong feeling towards Joi and Joi, either consciously or programmed to do so, responded to such sentiment. Later in the film, Wallace’s assistant Luv destroyed the Emanator as K and Deckard were captured. With no doubt, the holographic effects presented in the film are stunningly executed, but more importantly, we can see as audience, the possibility held by artificial intelligence and specifically that of the entity with virtual assistant. In the context of sentient technology, this might be the ultimate goal as it could potentially be a “human” existing in virtual spaces: they act and think like human. This comes to the question of what really defines a human? Are AI more human than human? Of course the answers to these question might never be definite. Like with the virtual assistant Samantha in Spike Jones’s Her, the protagonist K found out that Joi is just a product that is available to everyone who can afford. He stands in front of the giant billboard in which “JOI” called the name she gave him “Joe” and realize that all the feelings he had were based completely on the holographic image. But should we consider that an alternative to human life?

China is well-known for the strict policy on public security. Since the economic reform in 1979, the goal of maintaining the general social stability was manifested in the official documents and government guideline. Such policy has generated both positive and negative effects in modern China. It is, on one hand, essential in order to provide a stable environment for the economy to grow without interruptions from malignant incidents in large scale; on the other hand, it has generated discontent as its enforcement was rigid and even inhumane for which it received backfire that worsen the situation. One of the most criticized measures taken to execute the policy is surveillance. The “Skynet Project” is a national surveillance network that deploys more than 20 million public security cameras all around the country. Administrated by the police department, the network aims to detect criminal activities and track fugitives. Public has long been concerned about the fact that theses camera, as they were installed everywhere, might invade individual’s privacy. But the officials claimed that these cameras were used solely for the purpose of maintaining security and that “if you did not do something wrong, you have nothing to worry about”. Despite such statement, the public are still worried that the information gathered through these surveillance might be used for other purposes. Indeed, the “Skynet Project” receives technological support from corporations like Tencent, Huawei, ZTE and Bytedance and so on. It is normal that the public might concern data leaks as a lot of these firms encountered before. The project also received backlash as these security cameras seem unreliable and malfunctioning every time the recorded incidents related to official institutes and government officials. There is a phrase “the surveillance was down” mentioned by Chinese netizens as social incidents being discussed on the Internet. It seems to become the excuse for government to hide the truth from the public. With such statement circulated frequently, public’s trust to the government and CCP deteriorates greatly.

The mass surveillance also expanded to school where students were observed during classes. In 2019, a high school in Guangzhou installed a surveillance system that can detect the facial expressions of students in order to find students who do not pay attention in class. When the news about the system came out Chinese Internet was shocked by how insensitively and inhumane the system operates. It treats students as objects that can only be defined by mere facial expressions.

Visual aesthetics has always been one of the most essential components in interior design as spectators often search for the surprising elements that make the space stand out. In recent years, however, the proper functions that aim to make an architecture comfortable to be in, hence improving the physical and mental state for its users, become more and more popular. As Scott Fellows suggests in his article Genuine Comfort, the space within an architecture provides the primary sense of comfort because the people who use it long-term spend greater part of their time inside the building. Even though the definition of comfort varies from person to person, there are universal attributes that we all agree to find in a good architecture. These attributes could be visual like the lightings and colors of the space; they could also be sensual like the scents and sounds. But what matters even more is the proportion of a room. According to Fellows, “Walking into a well-proportioned room, you become more centered and relaxed”. In order to achieve the purpose of being visually pleasing especially in photography as people view designed objects in a two-dimensional platforms like instagram, designers sometimes overlook the actual needs for people who use the space. For example, a spatial and minimalistic room with high ceilings is not always comfortable to live in because one may find him/herself lonely and isolated without reliable support in such vast space. In this case, the photos of the room could look stunning, the in-person experience might suggest otherwise. Moreover, Fellows points out that everything in a room must have a purpose that contributes to the harmony of the entire space. Indeed, a lot of the times designers emphasize the decorative quality over functionality of furniture, wasting space and money that could be used towards a better user experience. With no doubt, giant centerpieces might gain attention at first sight and create the “wow” factors in a room. Imagine how long would it take to grow tired of them because they take up too much space and are simply useless. These large objects break the balance and harmony of the room and generate unwanted clusters that are difficult to get rid of in long run. Architecture, as they were initially built, serves the purpose of a shelter against different environmental conditions where people can rest comfortably, therefore the physical well-being is the priority. Fellows believes that contemporary designs should also consider the emotional needs of people in this day and age. After all, the physical and mental well-being are not mutually exclusive: one can enhance the other greatly. Interior design is one step closer to accomplish such goal. A room filled with easy-to-use and comfortable furnitures could potentially be a container of good memories. While physical experience might be temporary, the emotional response brought by good designs lasts longer as it exists in our minds. In this sense, the connection between physical and mental well-being present an obvious and beneficial dynamics in interior design. Being one of the emerging concepts in architecture and interior, biophilic design illustrates Fellow’s ideas precisely. By introducing plants, water and other natural elements into the living and working space, biophilic designers create places where people could interact with nature without having to travel a long way. Surrounding oneself with plants, as scientific evidence suggest, can make one energetic and healthy, which in turn, improves the efficiency and. That is the reason why more and more workspaces adopted biophilc design in the past few years as it caters to the situation faced by the residents in urban settings. The space bombarded with people and busy works could be as depressing as it sounds and biophilic design takes physical and mental well-beings into account and provides gateways for people to relax and recharge

The term “Low-end Population” appears in Chinese state media around 2010 where it was used to refer to the migrant workers who work in lower income jobs in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Since then the term was used in official documents issued to restrict migration and control population in cities. Overpopulation in China’s major cities has always been a social problem for the CCP. Because of hukou system, people receive their benefits, health cares and social security according to the location they register their hukou. While such system was established to better allocate resources and manage population, it also create barriers for migrant workers. Most of the low-end population that the official documents refer to are those to do not own the certificate of registration in these major cities. That is why they are not secured by the government. Even for a lot of people who are not considered to be “low-end”, acquiring a hukou in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen also takes a long time and certain amount of capital (e.g. you have to own an apartment in the city). Migrant workers who works in lower income jobs usually live in small units that are divided by landlords which often does not comply with safety protocols. On Nov. 18, a fire broke out in a building in Beijing’s southern Daxing suburb, killing 19 people including eight children. Most of the victims were migrants who had come to Beijing from other parts of the country. According to local authorities, around 400 people lived in cramped conditions in the two-story structure, which also served as a workshop and refrigerated warehouse for local vendors. Nearly 20 people including managers and electricians of the building have been detained over the fire. In response to the tragedy, the Beijing government kicked off  a 40-day citywide safety inspections, with a particular focus on warehouses, rental compounds, wholesale markets, and other constructions on the rural-urban fringes across Beijing. The campaign aims to demolish illegal dwellings on short notice, effectively leaving thousands of people living in Beijing’s outskirts homeless overnight. Chinese Netizens on Weibo and WeChat started to use the term low-end population on these platforms and generated a trending hashtag. Some of them think that the government should regulate the migrant population into the cities, other think that what the government did was inhumane. The platforms, under the pressure of the Administration of Cyberspace, deleted the hashtag and censored the post that contain the term. 

It has long been established that the CCP’s main goal of Chinese society is to maintain “Harmony and Stability” due to the deep-rooted social inequality and repressed groups in the nation. The system of “Chengguan” (urban management) is one of many devices implemented by CCP to reinforce its political control over residents in the city and probably the most infamous one so far.

Originated in 1996 and developed in the early 20th century, the system oversees the environmental, traffic, business and other issues that might appear in urban development. One of the most prominent issues that the system deals with is hawkers. CCP and the government believe that hawkers in urban area cause severe environmental and food safety problems therefore are determined to regulate these small business on the streets and Chengguan plays an important role in the process. Since hawkers often run their business in the most populated areas in the city, they can be easily tracked by Chengguan. Though Chengguan officers do not have the power to arrest the hawkers, they may fine the owners under Law of the People’s Republic of China on Administrative Penalty. Needless to say that most of the hawkers are reluctant or even unable to pay these fine because they can barely cover their expenses running these stalls. So every time when Chengguan officers show up, hawkers would pack their things and run as the officers chased after them. Those who are not unable to run may negotiate with Chengguan officers, hoping the officers can spare them the penalties. This oftentimes leads to argument or even violent conflicts.

During the early age of social media in China when censorship in online platforms was not abundant, there were many videos of Chengguan officers chasing and beating hawkers violently. These videos were widely circulated in Weibo and other social media and given enormous attention because of the brutal acts of Chengguan officers. They usually showcased a group of officers surrounding a hawker, questioning the legitimacy of his/her business and when the hawker did not comply to the penalty and tried to argue with the officers, they would pin him/her down until the hawker comply. These cases happened every day in the cities of China and one case stood out because of its extreme violence and its social influence. In 2009, Xia Junfeng, a hawker who sold barbecue food in Shenyang, was rounded up and taken to the Administration of Urban Management for penalty because he run the business without a license. In the Administration, he stabbed two Chengguan officers with a small knife, causing their deaths and fled the scene. He was then arrested and trialed. After multiple appeals, the court maintain the initial verdict and sentenced Xia to death.

The case generated vigorous discussion on the Internet. Netizens criticized the Chengguan system for being rigid and inhumane. Many thought Xia was a martyr that stood against the totalitarianism and state power of CCP. Other believed that the deaths of the two officers were expendable victims under meaningless pursuit of “Harmony and Stability”. Indeed, with the constant coverage of officers acting violently towards powerless hawkers, the term “Chengguan” has become the symbol of power abuse. Though we must not forget the institute that gives them such power and the fact that these officers were merely following the rules set by the state. Yet Chengguan officers become the outlets for ordinary people to express their resentment towards the government and the scapegoats for all the social problem(that we could observe).

Being one of the most influential genres of Cantonese culinary culture, Shunde Cuisine has long been recognized as the food capital in Guangdong. The saying “食在广州，厨出凤城”(The delicious foods come from Canton and the cooks come from Shunde) exemplifies the impacts of Shunde cooking style. Given the limitation of resources and the traditional forms of economy, Shunde Cuisine emphasizes on making the best foods out of local and ordinary produce. Since its establishment as a county under Ming Dynasty, Shunde’s economy relied heavily on fish farming and sericulture. The production cycle surrounding fish ponds and silkworm farms created a special agricultural phenomenon as well as a unique culinary scene. Shunde cuisine values freshness and umami tastes that comes from the produce itself. There is seldom heavy seasonings nor overcooking because these might cover the authentic taste of the foods. For example in Shunde, fish is often cooked through steaming and served only with soy sauce. Some might think steaming is not sufficient enough to get rid of the fishy smell or otherwise overcook the fish; however chefs in Shunde have a way of steaming the fish with precise duration of time and control of temperature that takes out the fishy smell and cook the fish to the right degree. The steam fish, naturally, tastes fresh and tender and can definitely represent Shunde cuisine. Even though it might seem easy to do, such technique requires years of experience and strict quality control of raw material. That being said, Shunde cuisine has never been given so much attention until the documentary “A Bite of Shunde”, a spin-off and sequel of “A Bite of China”, came out in 2016. The three-episode documentary introduces Shunde cuisine as one of the most prominent culinary scene in Southern China and showcases both traditional and innovative dishes made by cooks in Shunde. The program was aired on CCTV documentary channel and make Shunde famous overnight. People started to visit Shunde on weekends and holidays just for the sake of foods. In 2018, over 4.5 million tourists traveled to Shunde and created more than 17.1 billion in tourism revenue. With no doubt, the documentary has brought enormous economical benefits to the small town and create thousands of new jobs in food industry. However it is worth noting that the culinary culture of Shunde might not necessarily benefit from it. With more and more tourists come to town, the restaurants have to adjust their dishes to cater to different customers. One of the methods they use is to put heavy seasonings on the foods to create strong scents and tastes so they can stimulate customers in attempt to retain significant memory of the dishes. Such cooking method deviate from the original purpose of preserving the original flavor of the foods and give up the spirit Shunde Cuisine. On the other hand, the restaurants that got promoted in the documentary became the hotspots for tourists and people need to queue for hours to get in. Such phenomenon has made restaurants less motivated to improve their quality as they do not have to worry about the customer flow while the culinary experience deteriorated for customers who are mainly tourists. If they are satisfied with the experience, they might never come back and worst of all, they might tell other people not to come because the foods are overrated. It is a dilemma that are faced by many regional foods and should be addressed to achieve healthy development of a culture.