Abstract
Written in response to a series of photos of moving image screens on the Shanghai public transport system by Yu Wenhao, this essay
considers the environment of public transport in Shanghai as an
example of the drive towards what Guy Debord has called the
“integrated spectacle” of late capitalism, where we no longer gaze at the spectacle but live in it (and it lives in us). However, it argues that the distracted and fragmented engagement that is inherent to this mode of spectacle also ensures that it is not hermetic, even if, ironically, spectators turn to personal screen devices in their efforts to look away.
considers the environment of public transport in Shanghai as an
example of the drive towards what Guy Debord has called the
“integrated spectacle” of late capitalism, where we no longer gaze at the spectacle but live in it (and it lives in us). However, it argues that the distracted and fragmented engagement that is inherent to this mode of spectacle also ensures that it is not hermetic, even if, ironically, spectators turn to personal screen devices in their efforts to look away.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 13-29 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Situations: Cultural Studies in the Asian Context |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
