SHANZHAI ARCHEOLOGY
"THE MAKING OF TECHNOLOGY IN SHENZHEN,
LOCAL AND GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS"
PANEL: 6-9PM, MAY 15TH, 2018,
R. HOGGART BULIDING 137A,
GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
____________
Electronic devices possess their own trajectory. The production of digital
technologies, from raw materials to information machines, take place in various
places and cycles around the planet. On their back, the “Made in China” tag
stands as a crucial piece of a mostly unwritten story.
During the last decades, the region of the Pearl River Delta in Southern China
has been home to the largest production and assembling of technologies that has
ever taken place in the history of mankind. At its forefront, the city of
Shenzhen has become a new global center for technology, with many of the
biggest tech companies in the world today.
The legendary speed of Shenzhen’s urban and industrial development has led to
the appearance of entirely new technological phenomena with all their
drawbacks, from the confidential development of weird shanzhai (1) phones to
the biggest shipment of Foxconn products all over the world. This discussion
panel will be an occasion to look back at the many sides of this critical zone.
The introductory lecture will present an overview of the historical
transformation of Shenzhen, from the post-cultural revolution political reforms
in China to the latest generations of tech startups. Clément Renaud will
discuss and speculate on the global implications and outreach of this site on
the future of technology.
The Disnovation working group will introduce the Shanzhai Archeology research,
including a sectional history of Shanzhai culture (a specific Chinese version
of the copy culture), together with a collection of smartphones of unique
appearance and features made in Shenzhen.
Finally, Liam Young will show an animated skyline of the near future which
exaggerates the contemporary Chinese phenomena of Taobao Villages and imagines
a hyper dense urban region built entirely around the economies of the internet
shopping giant.
____________
SPEAKERS
DISNOVATION.ORG (Nicolas Maigret & Maria Roszkowska) [FR/PL], artists and
curators
Clément Renaud [FR], researcher, artist and writer
An Xiao Mina [US], artist, designer, writer and technologist
Featuring Taobao Village by Liam Young [UK], film director and speculative
architect
Moderator: Irini Mirena Papadimitriou [GR], curator and producer
____________
This panel is part of Shanzhai Archeology (1), an ongoing art and research
project by DISNOVATION.ORG
www.disnovation.org/shanzhai.php
Currently on view at Watermans
www.watermans.org.uk/events/shanzhai-archeology/
(1) Shanzhai (山寨) refers to counterfeit consumer goods, including imitation,
parody and trademark infringing brands or electronics.
With the support of Helen Pritchard and the Computing Department of Goldsmiths,
University of London, Design Trust - Hong Kong, CNC - Dicréam, and Watermans.
____________
BIOGRAPHIES
DISNOVATION.ORG [INT] (www.disnovation.org) is a working group based in Paris,
initiated by Nicolas Maigret and Maria Roszkowska. At the crossroads between
contemporary art, research and hacking, the collective develops situations of
disturbance, speculation, and debate, challenging the dominant ideology of
technological innovation and stimulating the emergence of alternative
narratives. They recently edited The Pirate Book, an anthology on media piracy.
Their work has been presented internationally at venues such as the Museum of
Art and Design in New York City, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, transmediale, FILE
and the Chaos Communication Congress.
Clément Renaud [FR] (www.clementrenaud.com) is a French researcher, artist and
writer specialized in innovation in China, social network analysis and data
visualization. After living in China for several years, he is now based in
France. His work evolves from the practice of fine arts, social sciences and
creative coding. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, he has founded several
international initiatives related to urban, visual and digital cultures. He
holds a doctorate in Management of Information Systems from Telecom ParisTech.
An Xiao Mina [USA] (www.anxiaostudio.com) is an American artist, designer,
writer and technologist. In her research and practice, she explores the
intersection of networked, creative communities and civic life. Calling memes
the "street art of the internet", she looks at the growing role of internet
culture and humor in addressing social and political issues in countries like
China, Uganda and the United States. Her writing and commentary have appeared
in publications such as The Atlantic, Fast Company, Wired and others, and she
has lectured at conferences such as the Personal Democracy Forum, the Microsoft
Social Computing Symposium and Creative Mornings.
Liam Young [UK] (www.tomorrowsthoughtstoday.com) is a speculative architect who
operates in the spaces between design, fiction and futures. He is cofounder of
"Tomorrow's Thoughts Today", an urban futures think tank, exploring the local
and global implications of new technologies, and "Unknown Fields", a nomadic
research studio that travels on expeditions to chronicle these emerging
conditions as they occur on the ground. He has taught internationally at the
Architectural Association, Princeton University and now runs an MA in Fiction
and Entertainment at SciArc. Young's narrative approach sits between
documentary and fiction, as he focuses on projects that aim to reveal the
invisible connections and systems that make the modern world work.
Irini Papadimitriou [GR] is a curator, producer and cultural manager, working
at the forefront of digital culture in the UK and internationally. She is
currently Head of New Media Arts Development at Watermans, an arts organisation
supporting artists working with technology, where she is curating the
exhibition programme and an annual Digital Performance festival. She is also
Digital Programmes Manager at the V&A responsible for the annual Digital Design
Weekend festival and Digital Futures. Irini is a currently an Art & Design
Associate with Mozilla and a co-founder of Maker Assembly, a critical gathering
about maker culture: its meaning, politics, history and future.
______________________________________________
SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe
Info, archive and help:
http://post.in-mind.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/spectre
