IN MY EARS 入耳 #21：中华未来主义｜专栏

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推荐曲目：Jason Hou - “Peking 2045” 

从今天的专栏开始，我想要潜入深邃、怪异、广阔的的 wetware 世界——即将到来的豆瓣 wetware 潮潮音乐周，一个混合着音乐、科技与科幻的大型活动。wetware 起先是一种理念，由赛博朋克作家 William Gibson 提出，在这个概念里，人脑（wet）与计算机和代码（ware）直接相连。尽管这个概念迄今为止大多还是基于小说，但也很快将成为现实：两周以前，创业巨头 Elon Musk 启动了一个名为 Neuralink 的“神经花边”（neural lace，赛博朋克里 wetware 的一个同义词）公司，加入到硅谷的一场竞赛，试图破解同样的代码。

今天，我想要讨论一个独立但是有点联系的概念：中华未来主义（Sinofuturism）。这个词由英国艺术家 Lawrence Lek 提出，他使用它作为一个2016影像作品的标题，以此来阐述一些21世纪中国语境下的主题，包括人工智能、后人类主义、人机关系，Lek 认为这是一种由自我主导软件引领未来的先锋。“因为这些高科技的物理组件都写有中国制造，”这位中华未来主义的机器人解说员解释说，“描绘未来的图影变的没有意义，它们已经在这儿了。”此外，中国未来主义也被描绘为一种“已经存在的科幻小说”。

你可以在我最近在 Time Out Beijing上写的文章里读到更多关于 Lek 以及他的“中华未来主义”影像的内容。在这里我想要谈论“中华未来主义”在创意领域的一些跨界创业，尤其是它是在音乐的表现。

鸭打鹅《未来俱乐部》内页设计

这个主题我已经想过一段时间了。在去年我给 SixthTone 写的一篇文章里，将鸭打鹅的2016年专辑《未来俱乐部 CLVB ZVKVNFT》描述为一部中华未来主义作品：唱片被包装成游戏，随光盘附赠一份地图，一份说明书，以及一个由AI机器人和纳米技术入侵者组成的赛博朋克故事。《未来俱乐部》背后的故事由鸭打鹅的主唱韩涵撰写，里面有着很多对 wetware 的多重援引：人变成机器，机器变成人，还有很多别的奇怪变形。甚至在听觉上，这张专辑也像是人类的瓦解（非数字化的人声和乐器非常罕见），成为一种机器化、量子化的声音世界。

Jason Hou 《生》

我最近比较喜欢的另外一例是《Peking 2045 (北平2045)》，来自 Jason Hou 2017年的专辑《Sheng 生》。专辑内页说这首歌“描绘了北京这座未来主义城市的赛博朋克”。在最近我为 band camp 写的一篇关于 Do His 的文章里，我采访了 Hou，请他详细讲讲，他是这么说的：

赛博朋克美学对我有一种莫名的吸引力，我对未来学家 Ray Kurzweil 的“奇点理论”、俄国富豪 Dmitry Itskov 的 “2045计划 “还有 Elon Musk 新公司的神经织网技术这类的信息很感兴趣，也常常幻想 2045 年的北京会变成什么样子。结合东方与西方、古老与现代的声音，就像用音乐塑造一个赛博朋克的世界。有趣的是，赛博朋克世界的原型就是中国。我认为我们已经生活在这样的世界中了－人们戴着口罩与随身的空气净化匣，磨剪子磨刀的大爷可以接受微信支付，外星飞船一样的奇异写字楼与古老的寺院并存；在这里人们谈论着继承传统文化，科技又在不断地改变所有人的生活方式，我的音乐就是这样一个奇特世界的缩影。

Lawrence Lek 是一个视觉艺­术家，但他也将中华未来主义的概念延展到音乐上。他最近的一个作品是《TheNøtel》，它将 Hyperdub 厂牌组建者 Kode9 的 2015 年专辑《Nothing》用3D渲染的方式做成了一个中国未来旅馆模型。这里似乎没有人类居住，只有长音和全息影像。Let还做了一个广告解释说“Nøtel Cørpøratiøn 是一家上海的国营酒店企业”，它的旗舰连锁品牌 Nøtel 的理念源自于“服务人的奇点”。

Lawrence Lek x Kode9 - 《The Nøtel》

（侧记：《未来俱乐部》则将场景设在未来的上海。在 LED 灯光闪烁的浦东天际线和电子乐主导的地下文化中，上海可能是中国城市中最接近 William Gibson 式的赛博朋克了。）

在之后的专题中，我会围绕 Lek 、Kode9 、《Nøtel》、中华未来主义以及 wetware 与音乐的联系进行 更多讨论；同时你也应该将5月18-21日留出来，届时前往糖果和 School，参加潮潮 wetware 豆瓣音乐周。

相关页面

Lawrence Lek -“Sinofuturism”: 

https://vimeo.com/179509486

Jason Hou - “生(Sheng)”: 

https://music.douban.com/subject/26966978/

Duck Fight Goose:

https://site.douban.com/duckfightgoose/

CLVB ZVKVNFT:

https://music.douban.com/subject/26828434/

Kode9 -“Nothing”: 

https://music.douban.com/subject/26614421/

Lawrence Lek -“Nøtel Cørpøratiøn Advertisement”: https://vimeo.com/191863418/2f53e02c9e

关于作者

Josh Feola 是一位音乐人/撰稿人，现居北京。自2010年起，他通过自己的平台“旁边儿”（pangbianr）组织音乐、艺术、电影活动，并先后担任 D-22 与 XP 的演出经理。他的长期项目有撒丽不跳舞实验音乐节（Sally Can't Dance）与北京电子乐偶遇（BEME）。他为以下出版机构撰写过关于音乐、艺术的文章：The Wire，Leap 艺术界，Sixth Tone，Tiny Mix Tapes，他也是纽约观察者报 Gulou View 观点专栏的共同作者之一。作为音乐人，他曾在北京乐队吹万担任鼓手，参与首张专辑《白夜》的录音与巡演；目前他是乐队 Subs、迷走神经的鼓手，也化名 Charm 录音、演出。

IN MY EARS 入耳 #21：The Sound of Sinofuturism

Selected track: Jason Hou - “Peking 2045”

https://dohits.bandcamp.com/track/2045-peking-2045

Starting with today’s column, we’re going to begin wading into the deep, weird, wide world of Wetware, Douban’s upcoming festival positioned at the intersection between music, technology, and science fiction. Wetware refers to a concept, originally popularized by cyberpunk writers like William Gibson, in which the human brain (the “wet”) directly connects with computers and code (the “ware”). Though the idea of wetware has until now been mostly restricted to fiction, it’s on a fast track to becoming reality: entrepreneurial titan Elon Musk launched a “neural lace” (another cyberpunk synonym for wetware) company called Neuralink just two weeks ago, entering a race among Silicon Valley startups trying to crack the same code.

Today, I want to talk about a separate but semi-related concept: Sinofuturism. This term has been popularized by UK artist Lawrence Lek, who used it as the title of a 2016 video essay that addresses topics like artificial intelligence, post-humanism, and the relationship between humans and machines in the context of 21st-century China, which Lek suggests is at the vanguard of a future dominated by self-aware software. “Because the physical components of high technology are literally made in China,” the robot narrator of Sinofuturism explains, “it makes no sense to produce visions of the future. It’s already here.” Elsewhere, Sinofuturism is described as “a science fiction that already exists.”

You can read more about Lek and his Sinofuturism video in an article I recently wrote for Time Out Beijing. Here I want to talk a bit about how the idea of Sinofuturism crosses over into the creative sphere, and specifically how it’s expressed in music. 

Duck Fight Goose CLVB ZVKVNFT  layout

This is a topic I’ve been thinking about for a while. In an article I wrote last year for Sixth Tone I described Duck Fight Goose’s 2016 album CLVB ZVKVNFT as “a work of Sinofuturism”, because it’s packaged like a video game and comes with a map, an instruction manual, and a cyberpunk narrative populated by AI cyborgs and nanotech invaders. The story behind CLVB ZVKVNFT — written by Duck Fight Goose’s singer, Han Han — contains multiple references to wetware, including humans becoming machine, machines becoming human, and other strange nodes in between. The album itself even sounds like the disintegration of the human (in the rare instances where a non-digital voice or musical instrument can be heard) into the mechanized, quantized sound world of the the machine.

Jason Hou - Sheng

Another piece of sonic Sinofuturism I’ve recently enjoyed is “Peking 2045 (北平2045)”, my favorite track on Jason Hou’s 2017 album Sheng 生. The album’s liner notes say that this song “depicts a cyber-punk futuristic city of Beijing.” When interviewing Hou for a recent article I wrote for Bandcamp about his label Do Hits, I asked him to elaborate on this. He replied:

“I’m a big fan of cyberpunk aesthetics. I got the inspiration from Ray Kurzweil’s idea that man and machine will merge and reach immortality in 2045 and the ‘2045 Initiative’ by Russian billionaire Dmitry Itskov, who is working towards that goal with leading scientists. I always wonder what my home city will look like in 2045. […] Mixing Chinese sounds with different forms of modern music is like constructing the cyberpunk world with music. We’re eager to explore our past and inherit our culture, yet new technology keeps shaping our lives rapidly. We’re witnessing the starting of the cyberpunk world, you can feel it especially in China. I want my music to reflect the world I live in.”

Lawrence Lek, who works primarily as a visual artist, has also applied his concept of Sinofuturism to music. One of his recent works is The Nøtel, which sets Hyperdub label founder Kode9’s 2015 album Nothing in a 3D-rendered hotel in a future version of China. No humans seem to live in this virtual world; only drones and holograms. An “advertisement” created by Lek explains that “Nøtel Cørpøratiøn is a state-owned hospitality enterprise based in Shanghai” and that its flagship Nøtel chain is adapted from the concept of “the singularity in service to the people.”

Lawrence Lek x Kode9 - The Nøtel

(Side note: CLVB ZVKVNFT is also set in future-Shanghai. With its LED-flashing Pudong skyline and electronics-oriented cultural underground, Shanghai is probably the city in China closest to classical Gibsonian cyberpunk.)

I’ll talk more about Lek and Kode9’s Nøtel collaboration and how Sinofuturism (and wetware) connect to music in an upcoming column. Until then, pencil May 18-21 at Tango/School Bar into your calendar, and watch Douban Music for more info on the Wetare festival.

Associated Douban Pages:

Lawrence Lek -“Sinofuturism”: 

https://vimeo.com/179509486

Jason Hou - “生(Sheng)”: 

https://music.douban.com/subject/26966978/

Duck Fight Goose:

https://site.douban.com/duckfightgoose/

CLVB ZVKVNFT:

https://music.douban.com/subject/26828434/

Kode9 -“Nothing”: 

https://music.douban.com/subject/26614421/

Lawrence Lek -“Nøtel Cørpøratiøn Advertisement”: https://vimeo.com/191863418/2f53e02c9e

About the author

Josh Feola is a writer and musician based in Beijing. He’s organized music, art, and film events in the city since 2010, via his label pangbianr and as booking manager of live music venues D-22 and XP. His ongoing event series include the Sally Can’t Dance experimental music festival and the Beijing Electronic Music Encounter (BEME). He has written about music and art for publications including The Wire, LEAP, Sixth Tone, and Tiny Mix Tapes. He also co-authors the Gulou View opinion column for the New York Observer. As a musician, he formerly played drums in Beijing band Chui Wan, recording on and touring behind their debut album, White Night. He currently plays drums in SUBS and Vagus Nerve, and also records and performs under the name Charm.

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