Reflecting locations and their cages. Where can we find cages in these two cities/ societies? Where are the similarities and differences from one an other? Maybe my partner and I should focus on a specific cage, which is still not defined. We could also start rebuilding an imaginary cage, where Hong Kong and Zurich merge into one without comparing them.
The subject that I found the most interesting is that if we are present or absent in the cage and if we are on the way to enter or exit it.
The topic is very open and I would love to work it out together with my partner. The way to get to the topic would be through brainstorming and making a concept together. The project could be a mixture of video, photography and text.
This is just a spontaneous draft of mine. It is related to the main topic, but not necessarily to the subtopic my partner I will be working on. I can’t decide that on my own.
Cages:
I can’t breathe, even though the air is perfectly clean.
I feel poor, even though money is reachable and here.
For one reason I see people not as people anymore, more like robots,
wake up, eat breakfast, shit, work, social media, eat lunch, work, eat dinner, watch TV, social media, read a book, might fuck if they are lucky enough and then go to sleep and do it all over again.
The overly polite attitude is our weapon, even though we often think differently, but it’s easier to be polite then to say fuck you in your face.
Meeting up with other people must be scheduled three weeks in advance, otherwise we can’t. Our schedule becomes our best friend, because it says what we have to do and when we have to do it. We always know what’s gonna happen next and surprises are very rare, with life itself as just an image of how we think life works.
Spontaneity is dead and we don’t even care.
We don’t even care if we’re living in a cage, because it’s a comfortable one. Every move we make is already turned into automatism. When we look around, we see everyone does the same, so we adapt, we become to an image of how a person in society works. We’re mostly not ourselves, we just like hiding behind the barrels of our cages.
hello jelena, maybe you would like to read this terrible yet very well-known cages in hk… (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cage_home)
i also miss meeting friends when we could text and say let’s meet up an hour later just to grab a burger or hang out and talk about anything…
maybe this just happens in hk, but i feel like sometimes people doesn’t care is not because they are comfortable… but seemingly they might have realized nothing/little would change even they put effort in it, they were too often disappointed when they had expectations… (sad)
Hi Winnie,
Thank you so much for the link. I am absolutely shocked of the pictures I just saw. They live like animals in cages. This is indeed really upsetting.
” but seemingly they might have realized nothing/little would change even they put effort in it, they were too often disappointed when they had expectations”
I am curious if you personally believe nothing would change?
I am always skeptical and tend to keep myself from a distance every time I feel an intense social unease. I believe something has to be changed, for example, that daunting housing situation. To be frank, I cry every time I watch these residents talking about their lives, I often feel a very warm and lovely family bonding there, but at the same time, I know those little kids will have to do much better than the average if he/she wants to change his family situation. And to those lonely old men and ladies, seeing them living in those filthy places is simply very cruel and inhumane.
I would say I am very thankful to what I have been given. Yet generally speaking, no matter what age or social status you are in when you are in Hong Kong, the stress is still unbearable… to the kids-teenagers they will have to learn tonnes of extra skills to get into a better school, to the college students they worry about interns opportunities and job offers (whether they can have a lot to choose from prior to graduation), to the working class they may NEED to work overtime with no extra income to keep a good impression from their boss… etc.
The only goal I have for myself is to live for the present and work, then when i grow older and perhaps become more professional, i can try my best to give help and let the future generation still have hope to keep faith in their dreams. Dreaming is being more and more luxurious….
Dear Winnie,
Thank you very much for your responses. It really gave me an other perspective of the topic “cages”. The interessting aspect of it is the comparison.
People who live in physical cages
People who live in mental cages
Does it mean that people who live in physical cages also automatically live in mental cages?
Where do they converge or different it each other from one an other. One which variey of levels does the cage impact the people.
Dear Jelena
I don’t quite understand your scheme, although it looks very interesting. Could you explain/comment it in a view words? Also I wonder about the relation of Hongkong and Zürich in your plan. And what do you mean with “cage”. Do you mean it metaphorical? Could it be a architectural element?
Best Thomas
I just came across another form of Hong Kong cage: http://uk.businessinsider.com/13-pictures-of-chinas-mcrefugees-the-homeless-people-who-live-in-mcdonalds-2015-11