Sensing Sinicization
Total View 全景
Sinicization is a term used to describe policies aimed at
erasing cultural differences and historical traditions of various ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities in the People's
Republic of China. Impacts of these assimilation measures can be found in alterations of urban architecture as well as in
adaptations of culturally significant buildings.
By utilising pattern recognition
algorithms, the project “Total View” is tracking these changes in publicly available panoramic street-view imagery, thereby
automatically sensing sinicizations and documenting effects of enforced assimilation on a country wide scale.
The
project “Total View” was founded in 2023 by media artists Ferdinand Doblhammer, Ulrich Formann and the Futile Corporation.
It functions as an interdisciplinary platform for exchanging research methods between artists, researchers and journalists
in order to develop new investigative approaches.
Focusing on subjects such as assimilation policies and state
censorship, “Sensing Sinicization” is the first in a series of exhibitions that will reflect on the ongoing process of Sinicization
and recent developments in the People's Republic of China.
Working primarily with digital tools, “Total View” automatically
collects and analyses publicly available sources of information to document specific issues and engage in a broader discourse
on the critical use of technology, surveillance and its authoritarian potential.
