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Walk Walk Walk Home
Tokyo based digital experiential agency teamLab came up with an interesting installation in the basement of GINZA 456. But the exhibition was live-streamed so that viewers from around the would could enjoy Walk Walk Walk Home. Walk Walk Walk Home was designed to provide a COVID-safe experience, that still fostered community.
Consumers were invited to colour one of a range of characters and upload it. The characters that consumers submitted walked in real time on the YouTube Live Stream. When a character is touched, the character reacts, sometimes stopping temporarily interrupting Walk Walk Walk Home. When a new character walked out, the name of the town where the character was contributed from is shown. teamLab did Walk Walk Walk Home for Japanese telecoms provider KDDI. It runs until the end of the COVID-19 epidemic. More related content here.
Anita Mui biopic
Anita Mui was a giant in the world of Cantopop, she was often considered to be its Madonna. But the Madonna analogue doesn’t really do Anita Mui’s career justice. Given that most things have become political in Hong Kong; it seems like the right time to reflect on Hong Kong’s historic role at the centre Asian popular culture for much of the 20th century and the Anita Mui biopic sits at the centre of it. Mui kept performing up until the last prior to her dying of cancer. Judging by the trailer the CGI of Hong Kong up to the early 2000s is amazing. Mui remained at the top of her game from 1982 to 2003, when she died at the age of 40.
Greater Bay Airlines
Cathay Pacific has been bleeding like a stuck pig due to COVID. But that also means now is an ideal time to set up a new airline. Greater Bay Airlines looks to connect Hong Kong with other cities in China and some parts of the belt-and-road. It looks like it might be a discount airline judging by the planes. The have started with a fleet focused on Boeing 737s. What is obvious is that there hasn’t been much money spent on the GBA brand. It’s almost like non-branding, see for yourself. That sea green looks its a tint lighter than Cathay Pacific’s palette but otherwise the same.
Matrix Resurrectons
Since the entertainment industry has been riding on the success of the John Wick franchise, it made sense for the media to return to The Matrix. Matrix Resurrections is the fourth instalment of the series. It is hard to judge from the trailer, but it doesn’t seem to be a neat take-up from the third instalment.
Rethinking Chinese politics
This is a great discussion with the author of the book Rethinking Chinese Politics. In his book and the interview the author Joseph Fewsmith discusses the challenge of power transition in China. He doesn’t discuss the rumoured assassination attempt against Hu Jintao during a PLA Navy inspection visit to Shanghai. More information on the book here.