Unit 2 is approaching to a close. Looking at the original enquiry alongwith the studio practice, I have not really been able to draw any summative conclusion, instead, the practice opened many new lines of enquiry regarding Eudaemonia.
The practice triangulated in 3 facets. Y1 summer term was spent explore what consists of Eudaemonic GCD practice, on the interconnected, digital platform. The second half of Unit 2 was spent exploring a very unique aspect of Eudaemonia – practices revolving around the idea but completely missing the point. Hence the Eudaemonia Bucket metaphor – lowering the bucket to scoop out Eudaemonia, many other STUFF, that is NOT eudaemonia, would also end up in there.
Compared to polis- and academia-style debate on the philosophical pursuit of Eudaemonia, the capitalisation on a branded ‘cultivated wellbeing’ towards the well-to-do Western white middle-class is much more relevant to a general audience. This particular STUFF caught in the bucket becomes the most interesting forefront subject. Most effective practice is essentially Reductio ad Absurdum – prove by reducing the falsehood to absurdity.
Thus my third facet / triangulation project consists of a firsthand practice on wellbeing capitalism – fabricating demands for well-off demography in an isolated reality, surrounding ideas such as secluded ‘inner-peace’, spirituality within contained bubbles, pushing the genuine and strenuous pursuit of Eudaemonia further away. I guess my practice has been valid for pursuing Eudaemonia, by drawing attention to this undeniable reality of how it is exploited and branded for profit.
For the future, I would like to structure a practice towards Eudaemonia that is less cynical and satirical, to directly draw attention to the fact that capitalism deploy all resources (GCD expertises included) to appease those subjected to it (earning living off the system, and had the system to revive and pander them back in the forms of consumption), leading to the disintegration of collectively reciprocatory communities, of a truly connected, vital lifestyle. I want to portray a possibility of a Good Life that is not established on occupying the top of hierarchies, or consumption.
Leung Man-Do and Houchen Li on a lifestyle of perpetual thinking and expression, as a more Eudaemonic model than strengthening one’s consumption power. Today’s demography faces the challenging situation – a lack of motivation in engaging with strenuous deeds, but genuine Eudaemonia IS arduous. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PU3OPwyWHc