How to Be Satiated in the Dark

How to Be Satiated in the Dark is an installation comprised of an animated short film and an observational video that trace the “ghost town” phenomenon in my hometown, Donghai, in Southern China. The ghost town is a geographical and urban phenomenon reflecting how houses and apartments are being built more than demanded. The empty buildings existing in the area make the section where they were constructed gradually resemble a ghost area. With only a few families taking up residence in a largely empty area, those “homes” no longer seem to fit the supposed warm, comforting idea of home. This paper examines the theoretical literature related to the socio-historical context during Market Reform and Land Reform, which sheds light on the ghost town phenomenon in China, the context for rural urbanization and the ghost zone in my hometown, and, finally, discourses on architectural phenomenology, affect, mobility, and the “uncanny.”