
Chasing the City
New York, 2018
New York, 2018
Chasing Ambiguous Conditions of Coexistence
Chasing the City:
Models for Extra-Urban Investigations
Only after a second glance do you realize that things aren’t quite what you expected them to be. Lift interiors in Hong Kong, specifically domestic lifts, appear to be the same as most other lift interiors around the world. Possibly the decor is richer in ornament than an equivalent European lift, but the 1.5 meter-square ubiquitous cabin is a standardized component that simply gets installed and allowed to operate following programmed algorithms. In fact, your cognitive faculties cease to function in these com- monly recognized “background” spaces. It is as if your brain goes into default mode, basing conclusions on preconceived assumptions about what is staring straight at you. On closer inspection, you realize that what you thought to be “standard” has been subtly manipulated: the lift buttons marking the floors of the apartment have been tampered as to omit any presence of the number 4 (4, 14, 24, 34. . .) due to its negative local “bad omen” connotations. Pronounced in Cantonese the word “four” phoneti- cally sounds the same as “death,” resulting in a paradoxical Spike Jonze situation where a building has no 4th, 14th, 24th floor, etc.
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Chasing the City:
Models for Extra-Urban Investigations
Only after a second glance do you realize that things aren’t quite what you expected them to be. Lift interiors in Hong Kong, specifically domestic lifts, appear to be the same as most other lift interiors around the world. Possibly the decor is richer in ornament than an equivalent European lift, but the 1.5 meter-square ubiquitous cabin is a standardized component that simply gets installed and allowed to operate following programmed algorithms. In fact, your cognitive faculties cease to function in these com- monly recognized “background” spaces. It is as if your brain goes into default mode, basing conclusions on preconceived assumptions about what is staring straight at you. On closer inspection, you realize that what you thought to be “standard” has been subtly manipulated: the lift buttons marking the floors of the apartment have been tampered as to omit any presence of the number 4 (4, 14, 24, 34. . .) due to its negative local “bad omen” connotations. Pronounced in Cantonese the word “four” phoneti- cally sounds the same as “death,” resulting in a paradoxical Spike Jonze situation where a building has no 4th, 14th, 24th floor, etc.
︎︎︎Read Full Article