A Beijing Anecdote: Folly as Commentary for Social Values, Space and Time

Abstract

“Social value posters + folly” is to Beijing what “Duck” is to Las Vegas. In the role-shifting era in Beijing, cultural revival creates a new focus on citizens’ mentality and engagement in everyday civic life. Public space marked out by social value posters, a national concept promoted by the government since 2006, becomes the non-consuming stage. It is both for the middle-ground communication between citizens and government and as the projection of individual’s pleasurable imagination. In the city where miniature and craftsmanship are long-term tradition, folly is introduced as commentary. It stands as a Trojan Horse but in the metaphoric pleasure garden. In this graphic novel, it is an anecdote documenting the real-time; it is an encyclopedia for urban toys; it is an amusement guidebook for all people.