Sugar and beauty in industrialisation
Performance
I swallow the sugar from the cup and choose the cup, as I can only see the cup and there is sugar in the cup.
PART1:
PRODUCE
With the progress of industrialization, sugar has become popular and turned into a very symbolic commodity. The taste stimulation has changed from luxury to popularity and then to abuse. Meanwhile, the stimulation of the other sense organs has also experienced a similar development process. At a time when human beings are gradually deconstructing sensory stimulation patterns, any work and product can easily be coated with (nice) icing. The act of expanding production fills every corner of the life of modern city dwellers, just like different cups being constantly pushed in front of you.
This reflects the following phenomenon: before the prevalence of production surplus, people produced goods. After the surplus of goods, people produced options. So what happens when there is a surplus of options after a surplus of production? The extension of human lifespan falls far short of the rate of content expansion. With the innovation of more content platforms and production tools like AI, this is a problem we are already facing.
The growth of choices cannot keep up with the growth of options, and packaging is the alienation of content, while interpretation distorts the content. People read sugar through a cup, then discard the cup after consuming the sugar. More and more people seek stimulation through stimulation, snacks through packaging and advertising, and solace or excitement through the exquisite images on their phone screens, seeking understanding within annotations. Where will this expanding cycle ultimately lead, or perhaps, will there even be an end to it?
PART2:
choose
PART3:
ember
Repetition, repetition. I swallow the white sugar in the cup, choosing the cup because it's the only thing I can see, because I know there's white sugar in the cup.
Each portion of white sugar is precisely measured, placed in different cups in equal amounts, and continuously handed to people. We use the cups to select which portion of white sugar to swallow, then discard the cup after consuming the sugar. Yes, it's a kind of absurd understanding and self-satisfaction, just like the helplessness when faced with an overwhelming amount of information.
The end won't be now; expansion and reproduction are still the themes of this era. Before the prevalence of production surplus, people produced goods, and after a surplus of goods, people produced options. The widespread use of production tools has created more small producers (such as content creators). What comes after the surplus of options, how many options can a person experience in their lifetime, and where can those surplus options be placed?
