TALE OF TWO CITIES
COMPLETED WITH MARSHA ISMAIL UNDER THE STUDIO ‘ARCHITECTURE AS MEDIA’ LED BY DR.SIMONE CHUNG AND MARYANNE NG IN 2021.
NOMINATED FOR ARCHIVAL AND NUS OPEN HOUSE 2022.
ALL USED EXTERNAL FOOTAGES HAVE BEEN PROPERLY CREDITED AT THE END OF THE FILM.
WATCH FULL FILM HERE ︎︎︎
THE TALE OF TWO CITIES IS A CONCEPTUAL PROJECT SET IN THE YEAR 2050, EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO CITIES THAT HAVE EMERGED FROM AN INDUSTRY OF SPACE DEBRIS MANAGEMENT AND THE SOCIAL STRUCTURES INFORMED BY THEM. AS A CONSEQUENCE OF DECADES OF SPACE DEBRIS, IT POSES THREAT TO INTERPLANETARY SPACE TRAVEL.
STRATUM CORPORATION FOREFRONTS THE SPACE DEBRIS MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY BY CREATING A NEW GEOLOGICAL MATERIAL OUT OF SPACE DEBRIS. WHILE A NEW GEOLOGY IS BORN AND SERVES THE CORPORATION AS A FLOATATION DEVICE FOR THE SETTLEMENT, IT ALSO MARKS THE EDGE OF A NEW UNDERGROUND CITY.
THE TALE OF TWO CITIES EXPLORES THE PRODUCTIVE POTENTIAL OF EXTREME DENSIFICATION DUE TO TOILING FOR THE CREDIT SYSTEM. WHILE THE STRATUM BORDERS ON THE NEO-COLONIAL MASTERPLAN THAT IS IMPOSED FROM A SINGULAR SEAT OF POWER, THE BURROW SURRENDERS TO WILDERNESS. CLIMATE CHANGE OR SPACE DEBRIS IN THIS PROJECT IS NO LONGER A TECHNOLOGICAL PROBLEM, BUT RATHER AN IDEOLOGICAL ONE, ROOTED IN CULTURE, POLITICS AND CLASS DIVISION. THE TALE OF TWO CITIES IS SIMULTANEOUSLY AN EXTRAORDINARY SPECULATIVE IMAGE OF TOMORROW AND AN URGENT EXAMINATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS FACING US TODAY.
COMPLETED BY CHING YU HAN AND MARSHA ISMAIL, 2021.