张宜平的网上日志 | ZYP's Blog

But let us slow down and look back: the complete integration of the virtual and real world, will it be our very future? You may find a similar chapter in our history. One day in February of 1909, the Italian writer and poet Filippo Marinetti in his article “Manifeste du futurism” on Le Figaro, declared the modern industrial civilization and its science and technology could thoroughly change our traditional perception of time and space. He advocated in the future, the theme of literature and art should be “speed, power, competition, and modernity “. Nevertheless, human beings still have not redeemed the environmental damages caused by the industrialization process so far. The futurists’ fanaticism and their aegis for fascism made them doomed to be ephemeral. The futurism didn’t bring us to the future, but neither the machines nor the progress of the modernization has been put to a halt. Compared with it, the arrival of the digital era seemed to keep a low profile. It comes without manifestoes or parades, but has been changing our lifestyle dramatically.

Having experienced the pain of disillusion of the late 90s’ “New Economy” of last century, we should look upon the technology and future more rationally. However, new myths are still being constantly produced. It is not the patent only for digital era, but the doom of capitalism. Every day, new internet services are provided, new promotion and entertainment platforms are created, new servers are installed to satisfy the soaring requirement of page-view; investment needs to be increased, and enterprises demand to join the market. Nevertheless, we should ask ourselves how many of those ideas are sustainable, and how many inventions of them are truly required? After downloading the free games to the phone, do we launch them for a second time? Should we use the video for each phone call? Won’t we feel much easier when the video camera isn’t in operation? Will the SNS (Social Networking Services) replace the traditional ways of social intercourse? Would we like to court one another in the virtual Starbucks Café? Will the paper books disappear? Will micro-blogs take place of the role of journalists and help us to come closer to the truth? Can the digital product placement marketing attract the benumbed consumers? Do we like to have our lives surrounded by screens and interfaces? Do we designers have no choice but to become accomplices in worship of consumerism?

Young creative individuals and designers keep on questioning themselves with these doubts. It seems that we are trapped in a dilemma: on one hand, we are celebrating the rich availability of new media and technologies; on the other hand, we wish to help all of us return to ourselves, and the world to itself. Franz Kafka had already demonstrated the terror of alienation caused by modernity to us in his The Metamorphosis. If we don’t rethink it profoundly, the digital civilization might even aggravate the alienation: in Kafka’s time, transforming into a monstrous insect would be exposed to everyone; but today, when we surf the internet, what is hiding behind an avatar could just be anything. Love, sincerity and equality… The pursuit of those universal values is yet the true motivation of the innovations.

DFI, positioning itself as a design school of tomorrow, encourages its students to reflect the meaning of creativity and the responsibilities of a designer. Embracing the future, we believe that creativity can make our lives better, but we shall always remind ourselves who we are and where we go, and the answers will guide us to constantly adjust our heading directions. Like the destiny of Prometheus, carrying kindling and bearing hardship, wandering between optimism and pessimism – perhaps this is the destiny of all creative individuals.

Dilemma of Creativity, Optimistic and Pessimistic Reflections over the Innovations of Digital Era (Part II)

TIn the era of digital communication, the rise of interactive technology has made it possible that creativities can change our lives promptly. Interactivity is no longer an abstract concept, but already pervaded every aspect of our lives, and it’s deeply influencing our future. Interface, once was the indispensable medium of digital revolution, connected the users and digital world. On the other side of the communication loop, men use their innate sense organs to perceive the material world. With an increasing number of artificial sensors implanting into the personal digital terminals, the interface is endowed with a complete new mission: Augmented Reality.

At the WWDC in April 2010, Steve Jobs announced that a new sensor was applied in the iPhone 4 -- the Three-axis Gyro, which was in the past only used as a precise instrument in the fields of aviation and navigation. Having heard of this message, the software developers in the press conference began to hail. This implantation offers iPhone 4 the capability to perceive its relative position changes in three dimensions. With the three-axis gyro, the developers have a strong presentiment that their possibilities of developing software for iPhone will be brought to a new level by this small sensor. Before this announcement, Apple had already implanted various sensors into iPhone. Some of them can imitate human senses, such as the traditional visual and sound receivers (camera and microphone); some of them can enhance our senses to become measurable and digital, such as the ambient light sensor, which can constantly measure the changes of the environmental light, the proximity sensor is capable to sense the relative distance between the mobile phone and the user, and the accelerometer is designed to detect the direction of gravity and its relative angle towards the ground. What is even more exciting is that some sensors now can work far beyond our sensation, such as the GPS and the gyro. All these sensors work synergeticly with the software and hardware systems. Together, they transform a PDA into a communication media between human begins and their entire physical environment. We have been dreaming to have the sixth sense, but now through these new technologies we may obtain even the seventh sense, eighth sense...... If the automobile was extension for legs, if the television was extension for eyes, and if the internet was extension for minds, the Augmented Reality is then the extension of our sensation to the material world in all dimensions.

Furthermore, as the Indian inventor Pranav Mistry had demonstrated to us, we can even replace the screen as interactive media with the synergy of an individual motion detecting system and an interface projector. In this way, the user interface can be projected onto any concrete surfaces, and we can execute all digital operations just through our gestures rather than sliding and clicking the mouse. Those are the innovations which are currently happening, not the special effects in the movie Minority Report.

The essential message of this revolution is, it suggested “the third way “ to us, that we may finally be released from the dilemma depicted in the films The Matrix and The Terminator: either the human beings will defeat the machines (computers or artificial intelligence) or the machines will rule the mankind. The reason why we kept ourselves entangled in these dualistic imaginations is that a thinking model has been presupposed: for human beings, the only way to interact with the so-called digital world was to be “plugged in” through a network terminal. By doing this, we actually separate the digital world from the material world, and set them against each other. However, the Augmented Reality can integrate these two worlds with various sensors. Users no longer face only one of them, but a “communal reality” shared by both. The boundary between the world of atoms and electrons is dissolving. It seems to be an appropriate moment to declare an age of true interaction has come.

Dilemma of Creativity, Optimistic and Pessimistic Reflections over the Innovations of Digital Era (Part I)

The British writer George Orwell was not optimistic about the future of human beings. In his well-known novel 1984, he imagined in the late 20th century people were under the control of totalitarianism, which was incessantly and comprehensively realized through high-tech. Unfortunately, to some extent his prophecy has become real. The fortunate thing is that the prediction inspired many writers and artists such as Philip K. Dick, Alan Moore and the Wachowski Brothers. Through their works, they kept reminding us to be aware of the totalitarianism and modern technologies.

Technological innovations always keep us in awe, and precautions are seriouly considered. John Ruskin asked us to abandon the clumsy machines; John Lennon wanted to bring us back to the country fields; William F. Gibson reminded us although the internet could make the communication unconstrained by space and time, it might make the relationships more and more diluted; in his movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick implied with the piece of bone thrown up in the air that the abuse of technology could even date back to the age of apes. Whenever a great technological innovation will change the lives of human beings, panic and agitation make us hesitate and not forge ahead. Nevertheless, once this new technology has indeed changed our daily lives, we will forget the anxiety and fear and enjoy the convenience that brings to us. Among the masses, there are always a group of creative individuals – inventors, designers and developers – begin to think about what’s coming up. They contemplate the deficiency of present, and prepare for the next creative solution which may shock the world, again.

Nowadays, we become more and more accustomed to the technological innovation. We are very familiar with the situations that our common senses are transcended and “impossible is nothing”. For the creative individuals, it has always been the typical three-stage logic in creative process: to find, analyze and solve a problem. However, while technologies are being developed at such a high speed, we finally realize what need to be discovered are not only “problems“, but also “needs“. Abraham Maslow’s said: “Human beings, with infinitive needs, always have another need after one is met. Throughout their lives, they seem to often have some kind of hope and desire, so many things were created and problems arose…“ For instance, when the cell phone were introduced to the market, no one had wished that it could also allow users to do following things: taking photos, listening to music, watching movies, playing games, reading books and surfing on the internet. Yet when the smart-phones had all those functions, we began to sketch another wish-list: writing diaries, shopping, navigating routes, reminding birthdays of family members, and even choosing the next holiday destination for us. Each of our needs, whether it is desire through many years, or a flash of genius, can be customized and met. Due to their precise perception of the Zeitgeist, the creative people are able to push us beyond imaginations. Their roles have already changed, no longer the “problem solvers”, but the “desire stimulators”.

编自王晓波《从Internet说起》(for Ruralarea.126.com, August)

Forbid!?

As you know, South Maoming Rd. has been closed by the government. I don't have enough energy to complain about that. Such things are happening everywhere in China. Ok, now I'll talk about those forbidden things. Let's change a tone, use a peaceful way. Young people should not be so aggressive, right?

I would like to start this topic from internet. I use internet for mailing. I heard that some bad guys put a lot of pornographic stuff on internet, and someone even complain about the policies made by Chinese government.

I was really frightened when I heard that. The official of government who is in charge of the management of internet suggested to restrict and keep watch on internet. I definitely agree. How dangerous it is if any infomation can be sent freely on web!!! However, I know a little about internet. Except to close it, there is no way to restrict it completely. Internet is too fast, too dangerous. So much bad infomation is being spread, how to restrict them all? The best solution is to forbid it, easy and efficient.

Anyway, it's not so important for me. Though the email is damn fast, I can still use paper mail, and another adventage is, except your house is burnt down, you don't have to worry about your mail will be erased by something called virus, isn't it?

But, wait a minute. Didn't we forget some thing? Yes, the computer, the carrier of infomation. Without internet, harmful infomation still can be transported by diskes. Zip, CD-ROM, VCD, DVD... So, forbid the computer, this is the key...

Oh, but that could hurt. My major is design, and I love computer graphics and digital effects. How complicate it will be if I do works without computer. But anyway, people like hand drawing more now, isn't it? Ok, I still can use brushes and paper, and my works will be accepted. So go ahead, forbid the computer, no big deal for me.

Beside the computers, the movies and TV programmes are also dangerous. I have a firm attitude in this case. They should be controlled well. At first, those imported movies don't fit the situation of our country, best to forbid them all. Second, not every local directors is good. Some of them are always against our government. For example, Zhang Yimou, the poison maker. Look what a movie he made, Lifetime, only offer the audiences reality. The reality is not beautiful. Don't show the fact, show people the hope, the light in the end of the tunnel, that's the right thing for directors to do.

But if it's hard for them, maybe we can close all the cinemas. Yes, that's better. There were only eight movies on show during 10 years in culture revolution, didn't many people survive? Since I can survive by reading books, it doesn't matter for me if the cinemas are forbidden.

Oh, I talked a lot, but I ignored the music! Big mistake. For my opinion, western music is really harmful for Chinese youth. Too hard, too aggressive. For example, Rage against machine. What will happen if the young people hear that? We will even want to destroy something! Violence, crime will come after that. Rage, what do we need rage for? Young people should be calm, be nice, as Chinese tradition.

Some soft music is enough for us. The rhyme should be slow and mellow. Give the teenages some soft guys as their idols, then, everything will be ok. Hard rock, no doubt, forbid!

But, maybe I have to think about myself after all of that. Forbid this, forbid that, one day it will happen to me. I'm a designer, I can't sure every design I make doesn't contain anyhting that the government will say it's halmful. When it happen to me, I don't think I have the energy to defend for myself. Any media can be forbidden, why not me?

Ok, I can give up my profession, I like writing, maybe I can be a writer...oh, I forgot, even my books might be forbidden... Scheisse!...

I approve to compress the space for free mind, if they won't compress mine. But the result might be out of my imagination. Hemingway wrote in his book "For whom the bell tolls" : All the human beings are a whole part, other people's misfortune is also yours. Don't ask "for whom the bell tolls", it just tolls for you. Is he right? I have no idea yet.

50 years ago, a German priest of Protestant said, at first, they sent the communists to jail, I didn't say anything, because I'm not a member of laber union; then they sent the Jews to jail, I didn't say anything, because I'm an Arian; then they sent the Catholics, I still didn't say anything, because I'm a Protestant... At last, they came to catch me, but there is nobody left to defend me.

Perhaps he was right at that time, but as you know, things changed today, and here is not Germany. So, as a student in the sunshine of Communism, I don't want to think about this, not yet at least.

DKD is the name of a bar on Maoming Road. It's a place can generate illusions.

I was lying on the sofa in DKD, watching those strange people shaking their bodies in the pool. So many black, yellow, white people, you will get such a feeling that it's not in China. It's an aliens town, doesn't belong to this world. A group of human being called "Depression killer" accumulate here.DKD is a party, a celebration, for those people who have a dream about Shanghai, and only for them.

In every bookstore in Shanghai, you can find many books that describe the "Night Life" of Shanghai. Most of the authors are girls about 20 to 30 years old. Almost every story contains bars, foreigners, alcohol, dancer... Confusion, drunk, illusion, these are the most words they use. Many teenagers like those stories. They melt themselves in the unreal atmosphere; leave the reality, even for just a short moment.

Yes, in here, you can understand why so many teenagers like those books. The light, red, green, blue, goes thought the smoke, stop on those faces, shoulders, arms, Accompanied by the music and shouting, I should say I'm really attracted by this mysterious picture, unconsciously. No one can escape from that atmosphere; it fills your whole mind, fills your every sense organ.Melting, yes, I'm melting.

Suddenly, through the windows by me, I saw two eyes, staring at me. There was a boy about ten years old, looking inside behind the dark glass. When we caught the sight of each other, he ran away immediately. At that moment, I feel like just woke up, my mind becomes clear. The Big eyes, like still stayed in front of my eyes, blinking in the darkness.

I saw the eyes before. When Jan and me were on our way here, the car stopped in front of the gate of DKD, and that pair of eyes appeared behind the window of the car. With a plastic cup in his hands, the boy begged to me. I searched my pockets, put a coin into his cup. He smiled, and the big eyes were also smiling happily.

He ran away, but immediately, several kids rushed to our car, and more cups were in front of us. I didn’t dare to look at their eyes. I pretended that I couldn’t hear them. They hold their cups and stayed. I got nervous, but I didn’t move my hand into pockets, until they left disappointedly. Thinking about this, I felt uncomfortable. All my senses had been taken by DKD. I should get out of here, and take them back.

I stood up, went out of DKD. The fresh air hugged me, and I felt better. Many people were standing outside, talking in different languages. Through them, I saw two kids, wore in rags, were playing game. Maybe it’s a game invented by themselves, they played it with the cups and the coins they gained.

They enjoyed themselves, and it seemed that they almost forgot their harsh lives for a moment. However, I felt sad. They are still kids. It’s the time for them to lie in the beds. They shouldn’t be here. They shouldn’t deserve to this kind of life. Who, took them to here, took the happiness away from them?

But, wait, let me calm down. I should ask myself some queations. Do I really care about those children, or I just want to show my artificial kindness? If I do, why I pretented can't hear them? Why don't I do my best to help them? I couldn't answer. Maybe I should keep silent, do my own business -- don't think about too much. Kill my own depressin, that's enough.

I confused. The words written on those books appeared in my mind again: confusion, drunk, illusion... I felt I could understand those authors' feelings somewhat now.

60 years ago, groups by groups of foreigners came to Shanghai and settled down. They found that Shanghai was the dream land they had searched for a long time. Today, it's another tide of them, step on their grandpa's footprints, just like come back to hometown. "Deckerdence kills depression" Yes, in DKD, these happy people can do that. But how about the world out of DKD, think about it...

This night, when every people goes home exaustedly and falls to sleep, they will dream about the great party they had. But, maybe, I will dream about the two big eyes. I can't get rid of them from my mind easily.

(This is my first blog ever... written in July, 2000. Original link: http://badflower.126.com
此文是我人生中的第一篇博客，约于2000年7月的某天上线，原文载于：http://badflower.126.com)