An Aesthetic of Matters of Concern

A phenomenological video exploring the aesthetic of the urban traffic in Ho Chi Minh CityMost traffic research focuses on the technological and physical infrastructure of urban traffic systems, which is only a partial picture of the dimensions that make up a traffic system. Other important dimensions, such as human feelings, human values and emotions, belief systems, future goals, past events and more are important fundamental elements in traffic. Traffic users often subconsciously react to such felt atmospheric and affective dimensions, making these aspects at least as important as the physical components, and perhaps even more so. Atmosphere and affect – present in all traffic systems, but especially in Vietnam’s traffic systems – are fundamental to how we navigate our way through these landscapes, but because these dimensions are ‘fuzzy,’ and difficult to measure or quantify using traditional quantitative research methods, they are often overlooked in place of the myth of accuracy that comes with quantifiable numbers.This video aims to create a sensory and affective experience reflective of the aesthetic nature of the HCMC traffic system, bringing to the forefront the rhythmic interplay, the relationalities, and the atmospheric conditions that are uniquely characteristic of the HCMC urban traffic experience. This phenomenological approach to the study of traffic attempts to approach the phenomenon on its own terms and using its own unique language.

本现象学影像旨在探究胡志明市（Ho Chi Minh City）城市交通的美学特质。
现有交通研究多聚焦于城市交通系统的技术与物理基础设施，而这仅构成交通系统多维属性的局部图景。诸如人类感受、价值观念、情绪情感、信仰体系、未来愿景与过往经历等其他维度，亦是交通系统中不可或缺的核心要素。交通参与者往往会下意识地对这类可感知的氛围与情感维度做出回应，这使得此类维度的重要性至少不逊于物理基础设施，甚至更为关键。
氛围与情感渗透于所有交通系统之中，在越南的交通系统中尤为显著，它们是我们在交通场景中完成路径导航的核心基础。但由于这类维度具有“模糊性”，难以通过传统定量研究方法进行测量与量化，因此常被以可量化数据所标榜的“精准性”神话所掩盖，遭到忽视。
本影像旨在打造一场契合胡志明市交通系统美学特质的感官与情感体验，凸显HCMC城市交通体验中独有的韵律互动、关系脉络与氛围环境。
这种面向交通研究的现象学路径，尝试以交通现象自身的逻辑与独特话语体系来解读该研究对象。