“Investments havnt the risk, Quickly allies!” Somehow the perfect motto for this endeavor.
I just got back from a two week trip to China and it was awesome (and sometimes not so awesome). I was there with my husband and colleague, Garnet Hertz and our friend and colleague Silvia Lindtner working on a research project on Hackerspaces. We were documenting the Shenzhen Maker Faire (the first official, Maker Media sponsored Maker Faire in China) and interviewing key players in the US and Chinese hacker scene.
Filming lunch with Former FoxConn CEO Terry Cheng and Arduino Co-Founder Tom Igoe
I was pretty busy most of the time, but I did get to spend a few hours wandering through some amazing Shanghai fashion boutiques. Unfortunately, most of the items were out of my price range (due to the high consignment fees charged by the shops), but I got a lot of inspiration for clothes and accessories I want to try to make myself. Now, before you go getting mad about me ripping off these designers, let me take a moment to explain something I’ve always believed and had recently and strongly reaffirmed for me while in China…all design is redesign. Copying is a complex issue, especially for China, but it’s also a very interesting one and ended up being the focus of much of our research during this trip.
Shanghai boutique with awesome Yang Du shirts
I’m going to break up my trip into several blog posts on several different topics and I will definitely address the issue of copying. However, as I’ve just started really researching the topic in depth as it relates to China and hackers, I’ll probably leave a lot of that discussion for later, and for the documentary film we’re looking to produce about the maker movement in China.
The Water Margin a.k.a. The Story of Shanzhia. Traditional Chinese literature about the 108 who took a stand from their mountain fortress. Also the guiding theme of our documentary Made in Shanzhai: China Hacks Back/Chinese title Xin (New) Shanzhai : China Innovation