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GALOKLIVING MONOGRAPH
V1 FREEZE · DESIGN STUDY Index

Ask the archive

    One person,
    paying attention.

    Galok follows economic change and city memory through photography, moving image, writing and data. Kept in one public archive, still in progress: 7 cities⁠, 14 essays and 3 research papers⁠, 207 film prompts and things built⁠.

    Based on About, Cities, Writing, Cinematic Poetry, Work.

    Black-and-white illustrated portrait study of Galok looking upward
    FAN JIALE — GALOKCHARACTER STUDY / APPROVAL PENDING

    01 — Ask · The PersonScroll to read the record

    02 — Record · The World

    What has actually been published.

    Dates are each page’s own publication date. Where a page says only the year, the year is all that is shown.

    9 pieces with a stated day, 11 with a stated year only. Nothing here is dated from a sitemap or a file timestamp.

    2026 · month not recorded

    1. May

      • EssayThe Curator's Curse

        How China's boutique economy turned taste, credentials and bad service into a public status test — and why consumers rejected it.

        Source: datePublished

    2. August

      • ResearchWho Captures Growth?

        Capital allocation, labor-market power and household demand in China's K-shaped economy.

        Source: datePublished
      • ResearchThe Fast Metabolism Economy

        Franchising, network expansion and gross store turnover in China's consumer economy.

        Source: datePublished
      • ResearchLove by the Hour

        An exploratory digital-ethnographic study of emotional consumption, paid intimacy, fan identity and organizational infrastructure in China's gaming companion economy.

        Source: datePublished
      • EssayChina, in More Than One Number

        GDP grew, prices barely moved and property investment fell. This essay asks what each measure sees — and what it misses.

        Source: datePublished

    3. September

      • EssayCapability Laundering

        Anthropic says Chinese AI labs secretly routed, extracted and trained on Claude. The deeper question is what domestic capability means when provenance disappears inside the pipeline.

        Source: datePublished

    4. October

      • Reading夢, the Afterword

        A city drawn, lit with 135 places from the book, and put out.

        Source: datePublished

    5. November

      • Cinematic PoetryCinematic Poetry

        207 original prompts, 129 with recorded Color DNA, no published video.

        Source: catalog release record
      • WorkIVDNI

        IVDNI — Building a Local-First Design Workspace. An evidence-backed engineering case study: framework-free canvas architecture, one mutation authority, transaction-safe undo/redo, and AI behind a guarded execution boundary.

        Source: release authorization record

    Also ongoing · no single publication date

    Seven cities, on film · ongoing chapters

    1. The tiled roofs of the Forbidden City at sunsetBeijingPower, ceremony and everyday movement.8 photographs
    2. A monochrome view across Shanghai’s riverfrontShanghaiRiver, streets and a vertical city.8 photographs
    3. Xi’an, a city chapter photographXi’anEmpire, memory and life inside the wall.8 photographs
    4. Shenzhen skyline stretched across the bay beneath a warm skyShenzhenBay, crossing, street, ridge and light across five city frequencies.8 photographs
    5. A telephone on an old street near Xiamen UniversityXiamenSea light, Minnan rooflines and a city moving with the tide.8 photographs
    6. A lakeside pavilion dissolving into pale mistHangzhouWater, hills and a city held behind the lake.8 photographs
    7. Street scene with a Chongqing signChongqingTerrain, stacked streets, monorail and two rivers.8 photographs

    03 — Selected · The Work & Imagination

    Four ways in.

    Each practice gets its own room: a studio, the field, a prompt cinema, and a printing desk.

    IVDNI case study cover

    01 / STUDIO · SOFTWARE

    IVDNI

    Early Access · product status

    IVDNI — Building a Local-First Design Workspace. An evidence-backed engineering case study: framework-free canvas architecture, one mutation authority, transaction-safe undo/redo, and AI behind a guarded execution boundary.

    Published 7 Nov 2026 · release authorization record

    Open the case study

    02 / FIELD · CITIES

    Cities

    Shipped

    Seven city chapters, photographed and written as they were walked.

    7 chapters · 56 photographs

    The tiled roofs of the Forbidden City at sunsetBeijingA monochrome view across Shanghai’s riverfrontShanghaiXi’an, a city chapter photographXi’anShenzhen skyline stretched across the bay beneath a warm skyShenzhenA telephone on an old street near Xiamen UniversityXiamenA lakeside pavilion dissolving into pale mistHangzhouStreet scene with a Chongqing signChongqing

    Enter the city chapters

    Dark projection-room graphic with filmstrip sprocket rails and the words Cinematic Poetry

    03 / CINEMA · PROMPTS

    Cinematic Poetry

    Shipped

    “Ferry Cabin, Trench Coat, Plaid Scarf”

    PROMPT No. 001 · Original generation prompt No. 001 · film · 10 s · published word for word

    207 original prompts, 129 with recorded Color DNA, no published video.

    Released 6 Nov 2026 · catalog release record

    Browse the prompts

    04 / PRESS · WRITING

    Writing & Research

    Shipped

    14 essays and 3 research papers, dated by each page’s own publication date.

    1. EssayCapability Laundering

      Anthropic says Chinese AI labs secretly routed, extracted and trained on Claude. The deeper question is what domestic capability means when provenance disappears inside the pipeline.

    2. EssayChina, in More Than One Number

      GDP grew, prices barely moved and property investment fell. This essay asks what each measure sees — and what it misses.

    3. ResearchLove by the Hour

      An exploratory digital-ethnographic study of emotional consumption, paid intimacy, fan identity and organizational infrastructure in China's gaming companion economy.

    All writing

    04 — Archive · The Living Monograph

    Still in progress.

    The first version of this site is still here: one archive, observed four ways.

    Search the IndexRadarDataReadingWorkAbout