Square Inch Anthropology

The improvised security system rigged to the entrance of this building alerts the (perhaps snoozing) door guard to the arrival of late-night entrants. An antique-looking bell is suspended in the corner of the sliding glass door. Along the top of the door, parallel to the bells, are taped several expired batteries. When the risk for sleep for the door guard seems imminent in the wee-hours, he will detach the bell from the length of string holding it away from the door, causing it to rest directly against the door. The course of the said door sliding open brings the batteries into contact with the bell, causing several clearly audible rings in succession.

Posted on an electricity transformer box at the main intersection of an industrial suburb of Chengdu are warnings on how to use electricity in a safe manner (or, more poetically phrased: "Dissemination of General Knowledge about Safely Using Electricity"), along with the varied consequences of failing to do so. Several frames feature people doing their own construction, while others (the "divided" frames) display actual repercussions of either disassembling electrical equipment (presumably to sell) and "rolling back" one's electricity meter. Each prominently features handcuffs, the boys in blue, and, that strongest of emotions, shame (yet it remains open for interpretation whether it is implying that it is only illegal if one is caught, or if it is framing the state as omniscient). Whether the creator's attempt to frame undesirable behaviors and their consequences as an "If A, then B" is successful is indeed open to interpretation - how many would view this warning and think "Hmm, disassembling the hardware on an electrical pole/rolling back my meter - now there's a fine idea to make some money." The use of red "lightning bolts" is also a risk for the implication that something both potentially dangerous and otherwise invisible is actually "observable" - "Just look for the red lightning bolts radiating out of those black cables, if you can't see them then you should be fine." How best to indicate a "live" wire, though? 

Think about the relative degree of contact you have with your local electrical infrastructure, and what influences the level and dynamics of that contact - the degree of protection/sequestering of said infrastructure? A greater availability of professionals around to deal with the management of said electrical infrastructure (along with the resources to afford paying for them)? Threat of stronger legal sanction and a greater ability to enforce said laws? Stronger education about electricity, or simply exposure to electricity for a longer period of time? If one experiences an electrical problem in your context, would the prevailing instinct be to fix it oneself?

For each modernization, the "price of progress" varies by context. Consider what a comparable set of warnings would look like where you are - the behaviors they would target, the examples they would employ (and their implied threats and emotions they would hope to evoke), what media they would use, where they would be positioned (if they occupied a physical space, that is), and perhaps most importantly by whose authority/in whose interest they would be posted.

On a long walk beneath the elevated highway abutting the Jialing River, one will naturally encounter people settled in varying degrees of formality, with a particularly sharp contrast between the different worlds above and beneath it. Above is the world of ultra-lux highrises with million-kuai views surrounded by cranes and the accompanying rubble of rapid construction. Beneath the highway, a contextually adjusted version of prosperity hinges upon something as seemingly trivial as access to water that comes out of a PVC pipe off of the road above.

Those who dwell beneath this particular stretch of elevated highway have developed a few methods for off-grid subsistence. For example, water that drips through the cracks in the concrete overhead or flows from plastic drainpipes overhead is collected in buckets and used for drinking, homemade fertilizer production (brewed in a repurposed bathtub, in this case), and irrigating small gardens. The often lush and orderly rows of the vegetable patches beneath the highway stand in contrast to the jumbled nature of the nearby residences which are formed primarily from scavenged construction materials and wedged amidst piles of rubble.

Judging by the clustering of water vessels both around the highway’s few formal drainage pipes and the bases of the support columns upon which rivulets tended to form, there seems to be a potential argument for the design of more formal water outlets into the highway – that is, assuming that urban gardening on unused land is something Chongqing’s city planners desire to promote (perhaps assuming too much). Framing this as the optimal deployment/recycling of resources, does it count as an element of a "smart city" if it is "accidentally smart"? It worked for penicillin, I suppose.

A solitary tent has been pitched in a corner of the massive pavilion in front of the Chongqing North Train Station, sheltering its inhabitants from one of the city's frequent light drizzles. Hard to know if this outcome was "according to plan" , or not. Were this picture taken at any time other than October's National Day Holiday (the Chinese Lunar New Year's infamous "Spring Rush" / 春运 ), I would believe this situation as improvised instead of anticipated. However, considering the rising countrywide popularity of all facets of outdoors activity (particularly if said activities require the procurement of various types of kinds of high-end, expedition-quality gear), coupled with both the skyrocketing prices and scarcity of hotel rooms and train/plane tickets that traditionally accompany Chinese holidays, the idea of camping in front of a train station may have seemed like a good idea in the abstract.

There is a fine balance between instilling the ability in a child to become independently mobile while still maintaining influence over said mobility. In that, note how these tricycles are not gear-and-chain driven, but rather "shuffle-powered" (or, alternatively, "[grand]parent-powered"). On the continuum from "walking" to "riding a bicycle", does this particular stage of child-mobility exist in your context? Consider the cultural-specificities that make this (and similar child-mobility devices) a common sight in China, and think also about the comparable extent of parent/guardian control exerted over such a vehicle in your context (and the child's varying degrees of acceptance of said control).

Here is a recent piece for Danwei on some of the more colorful members of the diverse species of Chinese convenience stores, along with what I think makes them that way, analyses of their most popularly sold item, and more. Enjoy, and comments always welcome/appreciated. 

Shown here: The switch from before/closed to after/open.

There is a wide array of techniques and behaviors around public drying in China - from vegetables and meats, to clothing, to the inventory of a store specializing in calligraphy brushes placed upon a patch of sidewalk in front of the store. Noteworthy drying behaviors aren't limited to space-constrained urban densities, either - I've recently seen stone walls become lettuce drying racks, and odd-length branches in wood piles hung with recently-washed shoes. 

Consider the practices that surround drying of different sorts of objects in your context - indoors/private or outdoors/public (and whether that varies by season)? Machine, line or rack (or monkey bars)? What are the infrastructure (built-in or improvised) and customs that support or discourage particular drying behaviors - and to what those behaviors apply ? Consider the factors causing that to vary (population density, education, income, electricity access, and so on).

Looking, one will notice a small gap surrounded by metal plating and sporting interesting wear patterns. This stool is actually an important element of a tool: A long bar is fit into the gap, with one end bracing against the ground and the other straddled by the user. The curved shape of the protruding end of the bar allows the user to place a just-patched cooking pot or metal bowl upon it, and hammer the recently affixed (and un-rounded) patch into a rounded shape so that it matches the surrounding material in curvature. During such operations, the customer will switch seats with the repairman, sitting on the taller stool while the repairman manipulates this stool-derived flattening tool.

One indicator for assessing the relative resource constraint a given context faces is the relative availability of raw materials and they means through which they are sold throughout the context. This picture, taken at the start of winter, depicts a not-uncommon scene in metropolitan Chongqing as the mercury began to drop.

Related to raw material availabilty within a context are 1) a sufficient baseline of knowledge required to manipulate that raw material, 2) a sufficient amount of free time to manipulate said material, and 3) the alternatives to purchasing and working with said raw material are too-costly in terms of either time or other resources (such as purchasing manufactured/pre-made versions of the product, for example).

Consider an example: this vendor sells cotton that he's bought from farmers in the countryside and condensed into thick sheets. He walks through Chongqing's neighborhoods on foot, searching for people interested in purchasing his condensed cotton, which they in turn use for re-stuffing their winter blankets if, upon removing them from storage the owners judge them to be a bit on the anemic side. Consider the required investment of resources in the form of skills, time, and effort involved in repairing a blanket in this way, compared to the costs of purchasing a new blanket. Each individual performs their own calculations to determine their ideal option. Individuals experiencing a shortage of one of these resources will naturally have their calculations influenced in differing ways than those experiencing a surplus of another of these resources. Note the relative ages of individuals in this picture, and try to envision where each fall on the spectrum of scarcity to abundance - who do you believe is time-rich and money-poor, and vice versa (and why)? Using that information, consider which of these individuals would seem most likely to invest in the act of repairing their own blanket, and who would choose to invest in a new one. By your assumption, who is the vendor in this picture?

As a context develops/modernizes, it  becomes ever more interconnected with global market forces as it progresses down a path of specialization. One manifestation of this specialization is (I believe) a decrease in both the cost-effectiveness and ability for a context's inhabitants to repair things like household appliances, apparel, vehicles, etc., and an increasing propensity to purchase new versions instead. This stems from the increasing availability and variety of products leading to greater competition between sellers of those products, in turn driving down prices (along with people's incentives to repair).

On an semi-related note: I feel deeply privileged to live in a place with a seasonally changing cast of mobile vendors, with each month bringing opportunities to unpack and explore unfamiliar business models, risks and motivations, and carrying kits of the members of the street economy. Highly recommended.