Chiyu Chen
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Site by Mu-An Chiou

Intro
The installation seeks to manifest the collective sights, diverse viewpoints and sounds of this "Forgotten City", which is being ignored in the process of Shanghai's rapid urban transformation.

The group reappropriated techniques from advertising to express the essence of the place from an inner point of view.
We began this recognition process by finding a name for the Suzhou community. Fascinated with the number graffiti ads common in the area, we combined both the cultural (Suzhou River Area) and geographical (coordinates of area on a map) identities of this area into one logo. The colour blue was chosen for this association with the qualities and characteristic of the community: calm, clean, loyal, and surrounded by water.


We then set out apply a synesthetic process to visually document the voice of the people, to document the local's perspective of their own community using photographs, and to record the sounds of the community to act as auditory memories for those Shanghai inhabitants who have forgotten this traditional way of life. We documented the voices of the people by giving them T-shirts to write their opinion of the community on. We then gave them disposable cameras to photo-document their view of their community, and recorded the sounds of the area whilst navigating through its streets.

Alice Mela, Aurora Rapalino, Chiyu Chen, Dominik Premauer, Gabriel Wartofsky, Ian Harrison, Lesley Mclntyre, Lobke Rozemarjin, Yiting Wang, Yiying Lu

Synesthetic Process
T- Shirt Voice

[Goal] To visually document the voices of the neighbourhood people

[Method] Give locals blank T-shirt with our project logo on. Ask them questions about the area and let them write down their thoughts.

[Outcome] Give them the T-shirt they wrote on as a gift; T-shirt will be exhibited to show as well.

Photo Essay


[Goal] To document Locals' perspective of their own community through photo-documentation.

[Method] Give locals disposable cameras to photo-document their view of their neighborhood.

[Outcome] Give them a set of photos to keep and take some for the exhibit to show as well.

Soundscape
[Goal] To bring back the inhabitant identities of the site through auditory-memories.

[Method] Give locals microphones to record their most valuable sounds.
[Outcome] Provide an auditory dimension to the installation.

Photography in Shanghai by Chiyu Chen