the past few days, the sun has radiated a white haze that makes it difficult to look directly at any building or person. even with sun glasses, i find the environment strangely flattened as contrasts are both more extreme and less subtle than usual. an abrupt reminder that all that is surface is in fact superficial, although not necessarily postmodern.

i also find myself wondering about the history of glass siding that shoots up to heaven and how that artificial sky gets appropriated in sites where we don’t need more sun, but less. i feel suddenly nostalgic for an annotated everly brothers: where have all the 骑楼–old style cantonese buildings with shaded walkways (nice also in the rain)–gone? revolution passing. where have all the qilou gone, short time ago. where have all the qilou gone, become outdoor shopping malls, every one–like dongmen （东门）in shenzhen and the beijing pedestrian road (北京步行街）in guangzhou. what have we really learned, what do we know?

anyway, i’ve put up several views of reflected sky. when in doubt, bear witness.

shenzhen