Yafei Li: Geomegalomechannibalism
A Planetary Manual and Troubleshooting Guide

Vigorous Fracker, “crack-crack”, 35.45N, 118.99W. Highly pressurized fracking fluid, primarily water, but also sand or other proppants, is injected into the Earth. The crust suddenly splits, nerve axons burst, oil dripping from the nucleus. The liquid is pressed deeper and deeper, through the mantle, the core, until the Earth is penetrated.

Prejudiced Printer, “chug-chug”, 37.82N, 122.48W. An inkjet nozzle, hanging on the longitude and latitude. Dry powder of CMYKs, mixing with the leaked sewage, form colors. “Yellow, upper-middle and upper classes, wealthy. Red, middle class, well-to-do… Dark blue, very poor, casual, chronic want. Black, lowest class, vicious, semi-criminal.”

Arrogant Ventilator, “huff-purr”, 38.89N, 77.01W. Air, it is politicized, it is brainwashing, it has two colors, red and blue, composed of characters. An arrogant ventilator, lying on the atmosphere, crawling all over, always blowing, ventilating. Flexible air manifolds, millions of tension cables, from the cylinder to the human nose. Air molecules, absorbed by blood cells, flood through the human body. They become unconscious, mindless, emotionless, dragging the cam to spin tirelessly. It rotates faster and faster, the atmosphere grows thicker and thicker. Arrogantly expanding.

Contranatural Dam, “shh…shh”, 36.02N, 114.74W. Voracious Harbor, “honk-honk”, 37.79N, 122.31W. Buoyant Sewer, “plop-plop”, 40.76N, 73.99W. Oppressive Shutter, “click-click”, 34.06N, 118.24W. Pervasive Blocker, “op-op”, 32.53N, 117.12W. Cold Chopper, “clang-clang”, 90.00S, 45.00E. Suffocating Weaver, “clip-clip”, 90.00N, 135.00E. Mind(less) Blower, “ish-ish”, location unknown.

Geomegalomechannibalism. At geological scale, dynamiting, drilling, pumping, excavating. Powered by various social, cultural, political, environmental issues, cannibalize humanity, surveilling, breathing, eating, digesting. Eleven machines revealed, one under investigation, “wish-wish”, many more unknown.

Yafei Li is a Master of Architecture graduate from University of California, Berkeley, and has a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor of Engineering in Automotive Engineering. As an architectural designer, Li is always discovering and developing ideas through active processes of hands-on making and drawing. His drawings, design models and industry prototypes have been exhibited widely including Ant Colony at de Young Museum, San Francisco; Chillscape at UC Berkeley, Berkeley, the visual essay Cannibalism City on Archisearch.gr. Li was the recipient of the 2020 John K. Branner Traveling Fellowship and the Eisner Prize in Architecture.