Blog Grand Opening

This blog has two objectives. One is to explore our relationship with reality - with video as the medium and Beijing as the environment. Another is to create a space for discussion - confront ideas, critics, and references.

The “relationship with reality” is a vast topic. The challenge I want to take up is to use gestures of daily life to construct a perception of the real sharper than that of our everyday life. These gestures may include the relationship with money, fashion, kids, puppies, urban space, the way of speaking, driving, working etc.

I am interested in the “perception of the real by the Chinese” rather than the “sociology of the Chinese”. That means I will try to focus on individual experiences rather than collective actions or behaviours. It also means that I will privilege feelings, intuitions and doubts over explicit messages.

This approach connects with that of the “direct cinema” documentary makers of the 1960’s; get in contact with the world without preconceived views or ideology. The idea is not to “show” the real but to address the issue of the real. The phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty, that tries to describe the world rather than explaining it, is another strong reference for me.

« La phénoménologie comme l’art, n’explique pas mais révèle le monde ». This phrase from Merleau-Ponty would be a good leitmotiv for the blog.

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