Series Manifestation of the Three Sages
Yinshuisiyuan/饮水思源
Visual Machine
Water Lines
About
The Visual Machine series takes its title from the philosophical work of French theorist Paul Virilio. It seeks to explore how technology intervenes in and reshapes human modes of seeing within contemporary visual culture, and how such intervention produces shifts in perception, cognition, and structures of power.
Long before the invention of the astronomical telescope, humans were already observing the stars. Yet knowledge of the Moon remained limited to what could be seen with the naked eye. It was only after the emergence of telescopic vision that lunar craters and surface formations became perceptible, expanding the boundaries of human sight. A similar transformation occurred in the discovery of the microscopic world. Prior to the invention of the microscope, descriptions of matter remained confined to surface appearances; with technological magnification, molecular structures, interatomic forces, and planetary trajectories entered human understanding, fundamentally altering established conceptions of reality.
These discoveries originally lay outside the scope of human sensory perception and existed largely within the realm of imagination. When the senses are technologically extended, humans gain access to information that does not belong to their native scale of experience. This expansion of perception functions as a form of supernormal capability.
Visual machines operate by technologically mediating vision, thereby transforming how the world is understood. Through aerospace technologies, visual capture systems, and mathematical calculations based on electronic signals, humans are able to define the status of celestial bodies such as Pluto, despite never having physically reached the Kuiper Belt. This illustrates a new form of power produced by technology: the authority to define reality is no longer grounded in direct experience, but delegated to technical systems.
Phenomena once distant from everyday life are translated, calculated, simplified, and circulated as information through technological networks, becoming instantly accessible to anyone. Technology thus ceases to function merely as a neutral tool and instead actively structures what can be seen, known, and interpreted.
Yet the influence of these technologies on daily life is neither incidental nor optional. When we look up at the Moon today, its former romantic symbolism may dissolve into scientific knowledge of a planetary body. From ancient solar deities to the contemporary utilisation of solar energy, imagination has gradually been absorbed into systems of calculation, producing forms of shared knowledge that discipline individuals through processes of social normalisation.
In the Visual Machine series, I ask: when vision no longer relies on the human eye but is instead produced by instruments, algorithms, and systems, are we approaching reality more closely, or merely accepting a world already pre-structured by technology? As vision becomes mechanic, to what extent are humans relinquishing their authority to perceive and interpret the world?
Long before the invention of the astronomical telescope, humans were already observing the stars. Yet knowledge of the Moon remained limited to what could be seen with the naked eye. It was only after the emergence of telescopic vision that lunar craters and surface formations became perceptible, expanding the boundaries of human sight. A similar transformation occurred in the discovery of the microscopic world. Prior to the invention of the microscope, descriptions of matter remained confined to surface appearances; with technological magnification, molecular structures, interatomic forces, and planetary trajectories entered human understanding, fundamentally altering established conceptions of reality.
These discoveries originally lay outside the scope of human sensory perception and existed largely within the realm of imagination. When the senses are technologically extended, humans gain access to information that does not belong to their native scale of experience. This expansion of perception functions as a form of supernormal capability.
Visual machines operate by technologically mediating vision, thereby transforming how the world is understood. Through aerospace technologies, visual capture systems, and mathematical calculations based on electronic signals, humans are able to define the status of celestial bodies such as Pluto, despite never having physically reached the Kuiper Belt. This illustrates a new form of power produced by technology: the authority to define reality is no longer grounded in direct experience, but delegated to technical systems.
Phenomena once distant from everyday life are translated, calculated, simplified, and circulated as information through technological networks, becoming instantly accessible to anyone. Technology thus ceases to function merely as a neutral tool and instead actively structures what can be seen, known, and interpreted.
Yet the influence of these technologies on daily life is neither incidental nor optional. When we look up at the Moon today, its former romantic symbolism may dissolve into scientific knowledge of a planetary body. From ancient solar deities to the contemporary utilisation of solar energy, imagination has gradually been absorbed into systems of calculation, producing forms of shared knowledge that discipline individuals through processes of social normalisation.
In the Visual Machine series, I ask: when vision no longer relies on the human eye but is instead produced by instruments, algorithms, and systems, are we approaching reality more closely, or merely accepting a world already pre-structured by technology? As vision becomes mechanic, to what extent are humans relinquishing their authority to perceive and interpret the world?
“视觉机器”系列名称取自法国哲学家保罗·维利里奥（Paul Virilio）的同名哲学文集，旨在探讨当代视觉文化中，技术如何介入并重塑人类的观看方式，以及这种介入所带来的认知转变与权力结构的变化。
在人类发明天文望远镜之前，观星行为早已存在，但对月球的理解仅停留在“可见”的层面。当望远镜出现之后，环形山等月球地貌被识别，视觉的边界随之被拓展。类似地，对微观世界的认知同样依赖于显微镜的发明。在进入分子与原子层级之前，人类对于物质的描述仅限于表象；而当视觉被放大、被深化，分子间的作用力、行星的运行轨道等现象逐渐被揭示，人类对世界的既有认知因此被不断刷新。
这些被“发现”的对象，原本并不处于人类感官经验的范围之内，而更接近于想象的领域。当感官被技术延展，人类得以接收并理解原本不属于自身尺度的信息，这种能力本身近似于一种“超能”。
视觉机器正是通过技术手段介入观看行为，从而改变人类对固有世界的理解方式。从航天技术、视觉捕获系统，到以电讯信号为基础的数学演算，人类即使从未抵达柯伊伯带，也能通过观测与计算界定冥王星的行星地位。这种由技术所赋予的认知能力，体现了一种新的权力形式——对世界的定义权被从直接经验中抽离，转而交由技术系统完成。
这些原本与日常生活相距甚远的事物，经由技术被解读、被计算、被简化，并通过传播系统转化为可被即时获取的信息。技术不再只是中介，而是主动塑造了“可被看见”的内容及其意义结构。
然而，技术对日常生活的影响并非中性的或可有可无的。当我们再次抬头仰望月亮，曾经的浪漫想象或许已被一颗行星的科学认知所取代；从古代对太阳神的崇拜，到今日对太阳能的理性利用，人类逐步将想象力纳入计算体系，并以通识知识的形式完成对个体的社会化规训。
在“视觉机器”系列中，我试图追问：当观看不再依赖肉眼，而是由仪器、算法与系统所主导时，我们究竟是在更接近真实，还是在接受一种被技术预先组织过的世界图景？当视觉成为机器的产物，人类是否正在逐步让渡对世界的感知权与解释权？
在人类发明天文望远镜之前，观星行为早已存在，但对月球的理解仅停留在“可见”的层面。当望远镜出现之后，环形山等月球地貌被识别，视觉的边界随之被拓展。类似地，对微观世界的认知同样依赖于显微镜的发明。在进入分子与原子层级之前，人类对于物质的描述仅限于表象；而当视觉被放大、被深化，分子间的作用力、行星的运行轨道等现象逐渐被揭示，人类对世界的既有认知因此被不断刷新。
这些被“发现”的对象，原本并不处于人类感官经验的范围之内，而更接近于想象的领域。当感官被技术延展，人类得以接收并理解原本不属于自身尺度的信息，这种能力本身近似于一种“超能”。
视觉机器正是通过技术手段介入观看行为，从而改变人类对固有世界的理解方式。从航天技术、视觉捕获系统，到以电讯信号为基础的数学演算，人类即使从未抵达柯伊伯带，也能通过观测与计算界定冥王星的行星地位。这种由技术所赋予的认知能力，体现了一种新的权力形式——对世界的定义权被从直接经验中抽离，转而交由技术系统完成。
这些原本与日常生活相距甚远的事物，经由技术被解读、被计算、被简化，并通过传播系统转化为可被即时获取的信息。技术不再只是中介，而是主动塑造了“可被看见”的内容及其意义结构。
然而，技术对日常生活的影响并非中性的或可有可无的。当我们再次抬头仰望月亮，曾经的浪漫想象或许已被一颗行星的科学认知所取代；从古代对太阳神的崇拜，到今日对太阳能的理性利用，人类逐步将想象力纳入计算体系，并以通识知识的形式完成对个体的社会化规训。
在“视觉机器”系列中，我试图追问：当观看不再依赖肉眼，而是由仪器、算法与系统所主导时，我们究竟是在更接近真实，还是在接受一种被技术预先组织过的世界图景？当视觉成为机器的产物，人类是否正在逐步让渡对世界的感知权与解释权？