The Geopolitics of Infrastructure — Contemporary Perspectives

Under the name Zheng Mahler, anthropologist Daisy Bisenieks and artist Royce Ng explore the meeting points, fringes and possibilities of their disciplines. Using digital media, video and installation, they create speculative scenarios that examine historical trade relations and commercial infrastructures, from economic, geopolitical, social and cultural positions. Mountains of Gold and Silver Are Not as Good as Mountains of Blue and Green reveals striking symmetry between 18th century and contemporary trade wars between China and the West — both ultimately being competitions for control over financial flows, technological advancements and rare-earth minerals. The work commences from the mining infrastructure around the city of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province, China. In the 18th century, this site was used to mine kaolin, the secret ingredient of Chinese porcelain, that was highly sought after by European traders. Today, rare-earth elements such as cerium, lanthanum, gadolinium and neodymium are mined in the same region, essential for environmental technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs) and solar panels. The installation stages a conversation between a number of porcelain vases produced in Jingdezhen and holographic representations of contemporary technological objects. This ghostly conversation between physical and virtual objects speculates on ways to disrupt the current logic of extraction, production and consumption. The work takes its title from a slogan uttered by villagers in Jiangxi Province protesting against the consequences of mining.

Mountains of Gold and Silver Are Not as Good as Mountains of Blue and Green, 2020
10 hologram fans, 4 large porcelain pots
Courtesy Zheng Mahler and PHD Group