China’s Urban Dream

During the process of rapid development over several decades, Chinese cities have witnessed the accumulation of capital, expansion of urban areas, and improvement in management. As a social product, public space has been increasingly influenced by both capital and power. In these spaces, fierce competition among various forms of capital has led to commercialization. We often see various commercial advertisements, promotional activities, diverse store decorations, colorful products and packaging. Additionally, the transformation, delineation, and surveillance of space by power have already become a common state. It is common to witness demolitions and reconstructions of buildings, as well as the deployment of surveillance cameras and political slogans or banners. Of course, within these spaces we can also observe interactions between different forces such as capital, power and ordinary individuals who inhabit this space. We often see various torn advertising posters, defaced warning signs, graffiti on walls, and capital participation in space transformation. It is the combined efforts of various forces that have created this familiar public space and built the "urban dream" in China's development process.

However, as Hegel said, "Familiarity is not true knowledge." Therefore, taking the daily public spaces of Chinese cities as samples, this study observes and extracts the micro-level manifestations after the influence of external forces including power, capital, and ordinary individuals in these spaces. It then captures images of their surface. By using these images as an entry point, it prompts viewers to reconsider the impact of capital and power on daily public spaces and individuals within those spaces. The aim is to explore what lies beneath the surface and discover the "true knowledge" beneath the "dreams".

2021 - 2023