As I explored the romanticism painting “Rocky Ravine” by Caspar David Fredrich, I became increasingly intrigued by “framing”, a technique often used by artists to control what they want us to see and push out the unwanted elements by using a canvas border to define the boundary. I then attempted to conduct my own framing experiment, using my self-designed prototype of a “Wearable Device” that frames reality with its unique Subtraction/Addition Mechanism. The outcomes led me to further contemplate on the meaning of “realities”. Reflecting on my own visits to various cities, I wonder how much of a difference those elements outside my sensory (and camera) frame could make to my impression of such places.  Arguably, a city will most likely wish that you encounter only parts it wants you to, leading you to the narratives it so carefully frame. Indeed, tourism could be a metaphor for a stage play. Once you’re in it, you may not even realize what is truly real. In the case of Shangri-La, a city in Yunnan, China, its mystical attraction—that has intrigued so many intrepid souls to follow its calling—appears to stem from the renowned narrative that “frames” it as an “earthly paradise” on the Himalayans. But is it really? To find out, I started researching all possible information sources I could think of—from physical books, magazines and postcards to accessible digital database, blogs and social media posts—and gradually created my Shangri-La archive by timeline. And, viola! I have a version of history so different from those portrayed in the media. Now comes the crux of this project: What can I do to let others be more aware of framing?


Interestingly, I found that the very concept of Shangri-La is derived from a 1933 mythical novel The Lost Horizon by James Hilton and that a particular area in Deqen in Yunnan, China was in fact bestowed with the reputation of an “earthly paradise”—or Shangri-La—only after the decision by the Chinese government to declare it so. Thus, unlike many other cities that have inspired books and other written works, the Yunnan Shangri-La represents a reality framed from literary fantasy— one whose commercialization has been strongly fueled by the media.



To delve more deeply and unfold the possibly hidden, overlooked, or “out-of-frame” stories, I decided to travel to Yunnan, China to conduct a field study. Using all the collected information (from both before and after the trip), I experimented with framing by choosing different vantage points on which to explore geo-tagged images and noting what I observed for each vantage point. Images that are “in” or “out” of the frame indeed changed considerably with each adjustment to my vantage point.  

    

From this, I then ruminated on ideas that culminated in 4 unique prototypes that would encourage the viewing of different (and often hidden) realities.