Semester 1

Chapter IX: Corporate Bullshit^TM & Gay Reign (October 26 - October 30, 2016)

Okay, this one’s gonna be fun. My university organized two days event for government scholarship holders which included visits to a start-up incubator, GE Shanghai, some aircraft manufacturer and an online gaming company. Since it was funded directly by the government, the budget was obviously generous and they could cover transportation, meals in different restaurants and one night at a pretty decent hotel. Now, I find corporate culture about as appealing as the idea of a strap-on in my asshole so I couldn’t wait to hear some odes directly from those who chose to get fucked over as a livelihood.

The absolute highlight was the GE visit. I like how these motherfuckers act like their shit don’t stink and they actually cover their agenda behind a veil of innocence and responsibility. Like yeah, of course the main goal of a global corporation isn’t to grow and grow (even over dead bodies) but to create a great environment for employees and to give a fuck about sustainability and ecology. Anyways, they let some fresh interns/employees to speak about their GE experience and it was pure gold. Most common keywords were “change”, “bravery” and “friends”. Cause that’s what it’s all about, right? Those poor puppets talking about how it’s important to identify with the GE brand and how everything starts with the ability of selling yourself. You know what would be brave? If the fucking guy stripped naked, drew swastika under the GE logo and the pissed on hiss boss’ laptop. Bravery my ass. Sterility of that place was absolutely on point. They had their own fucking Starbucks in the yard, gym for employees, corporate art all over the place and lotta trees and green shit too. They even got chargers for electric cars available for employees. So yeah, I guess if you do this, all that shit you do behind the scenes doesn’t count. The variety of different areas GE covers is actually quite remarkable. It’s the fucking E-Corp from Mr. Robot.

The other visits were fun too. All those lovely people working in the incubator hoping to become big ass entrepreneurs and a guy from the online gaming joint explaining gaming situation in China… This company just moved into a new complex which is similar to the GE one - only with more fun interiors. Our capitalism, our corporations, our religion. Fuck the haters.

We also had a chance to witness an ongoing construction of an aircraft in a Comac manufacture. That was actually pretty cool. Dozens of people working on this huge machine like aunts... During this trip, I was reminded how fucking massive the city is. It can take hours on a bus to get from one district to another – especially during traffic peaks.

And then there was Saturday. Halloween. Chinese actually take this shit seriously. Outside, you meet so many people with make-up on wearing awesome costumes - the city just gets weird in a very cool way. This was my first time in the Arkham club and I arrived like half an hour before the midnight. DJ spinned some enjoyable tunes and around 1pm Rich Chigga took over. This guy is a fucking hero over here. Girls went completely loco when he appeared and they didn’t stop until he finished his set with Dat Stick (okay, at that point I screamed the lyrics like a little bitch too). Even though he has pretty much no catalogue and he even karaoked some Earl Sweatshirt joints, you just gotta give him props. He’s pretty good live and Dat Stick is a smash.

Then Le1f came in and just over-killed it. This was one of the best (and also queerest) live rap performances I have ever seen. His mic presence is undeniable, he spits double tempo like it's nothing and throughout his whole set he pulls off dance routines along with his two buddies. No straight rapper gives you that. Add a crowd full of witches, jokers, superheroes and other weirdos, and you get an energy that's worth every penny. 

When it comes to art, I have checked new exhibition at Art+ Gallery (works of Ye Hongxing) and MD Gallery (Li Hongbo’s and Shi Ningfang’s installations). I liked both. What I don’t like though is the fact summer is apparently over and we are moving towards fall. It’s still pretty acceptable but gone are the days of shorts and short sleeves… 

Highlights:

• Conference room above a lake with glass floor. That’s how they do it in gaming companies in Shanghai.
• Le1f stripping all the way down to his boxers and jumping into the crowd to close up his performance.
• Riding my bike to school through the most intense rain imaginable. Mixture of swimming and pedaling. Priceless.