October 14, 2025
This short essay, part of an introductory lecture, traces the dual evolution of French structuralism into Anglo-American cultural studies and German media theory.
Posts
This page contains recent updates and fragments of my writing. These pieces may be temporary, unconsidered, and informal—unpublished now, and perhaps forever.
September 27, 2025
In 2003, Judith Butler published a long essay titled "The Value of Difficulty." In this piece, she aimed to defend "obscure" and "unclear" language, a stance that continues to provoke debate. I further argue for the value, that difficulty in language is not mere obscurity but an ethical and political force that resists hegemonic clarity and continually renews critical thought.
September 13, 2025
The murderer lacked any clear political motive; his memetic declaration merely displayed a form of radicalism hollow at its core—an empty radicalism that emerges precisely as a consequence of a post-political neoliberal society.
August 25, 2025
The debate over whether Lu Xun’s mural should preserve his smoking image points to the historical complexity of how reactionary and revolutionary forces have aesthetically coded the body and desire.
August 23, 2025
A moving image work that engages with the multi-layered histories of land, lake water, and toxicity—histories of remnants and ghosts—must itself be stratified.
October 3, 2025
I advocate for defining indexicality with ontological purity: it is the material trace deposited by causal contact, and its social efficacy is guaranteed by a regime of truth.
September 20, 2025
Building on the debate between Susan Sontag and Adrienne Rich, this essay explores fascism's libidinal economy and proposes a counter-strategy: an art of exhaustion, enervation, and sterile aesthetics.
September 2, 2025
This essay examines the stigmatization of 'Typhoid Mary,' exploring how prejudice and power articulate themselves around a supposed truth, drawing a parallel to the film *Malèna*.
August 25, 2025
I seek a more emphatically speculative approach to media archaeology. The work of Jean Katambayi Mukendi seems to offer just such a pathway.
August 9, 2025
René Wellek's 1983 essay “Destroying Literary Studies” critiqued the rise of post-structuralism and deconstruction. This essay re-examines his arguments, their blind spots, and their lasting influence.
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News
Nov 21, 2025: Will be speaking at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, New Orleans, USA.
Nov 19, 2025: Will be speaking at the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association Annual Convention, San Francisco, USA.
Oct 14–17, 2025: Will be speaking at the Big Stuff Heritage Conference, "Skills and Machines: A Living Partnership," at the University of Canberra, Australia.
Sep 8–Nov 7, 2025: Participating in the exhibition "The Great Rupture: Archaeology of the Apocalyptic Future" at the Central Art Museum, Hangzhou.
Sep 9-13, 2025: Will be speaking at the interdisciplinary conference "Taboo-Transgression-Transcendence" in Slovenia.
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Aug 25-30, 2025: Will be speaking at the congress of The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH) in Sweden.
Aug 27, 2025: Speaking at the "Futurities II: The Transnational Exchange of Chinese and American Film and Media Theories", Columbia University.
Jul 21-27, 2025: Participating in the "Excluded Media VII" summer workshop at Northwestern University.
Jul 16, 2025: Speaking at the "Shaping Futures" conference at Seoul National University.
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