In a class project, I was looking at the film Ex-Machina and relating it to how Asian Ornamentalism (a theory and book by Anne Cheng) is applied to science fiction based films, Asian representation in objects, people, architecture, and locations are often used to support a concept of future but eliminates Asian people from demonstrating agency within these imagined ‘future’ spaces. When thinking about this I was struck by the setting of Ex-Machina so I am sharing some notes, ideas, and questions that I used for a recent class project.
At the beginning of Ex-Machina, we see Caleb transported by helicopter to Nathan’s beautiful, remote dwelling - far from urbanity and technological connection. Caleb is a lowly programmer for a global corporation run by brilliant CEO Nathan and he’s recently won a contest at his work to spend one week with the company founder.
Nathan’s home is a distinct and impressive modernist structure set against the lush foliage of deciduous trees. The exterior of the building is panelled by charcoal grey wood and features a multitude of walls made of window glass to ensure vantage points of the nature surrounding its casing. It’s worth reflecting on how this setting and location is a departure from the structures and locations typically featured in futuristic cyborg films. We can recall the buzz of a downtown core filled with glass towers that emerge from polluted sublevels to cloud-scaped heavens, only attainable by the upper echelon of the technologically elite. From Ghost in the Shell to Bladerunner to the Fifth Element or the Matrix these films depict cityscapes as a conflation of future techno-utopian empires and the wired crust of a computer circuit board. Ex-Machina abandons this science-fiction trope for a cleaner and simpler setting of nature butted against technology which alludes to the struggle and relationship between the organic versus inorganic.
The building recalls aspects of modernist architecture that intend to merge housing with the beauty of its surrounding landscape, at first glance I think of modernist architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright whose infamous clean lines and large windows work to merge architecture with its surrounding natural beauty. And admittedly, I also think of modernist houses from the Japanese reality show “Terrace House”, where young people marvel at the beauty of these chic accommodations meant to encourage sociability within open concept areas. Upon further research, Wright’s modernist architecture is largely credited to his time spent in Japan with a focus on older building and the minimalism approach to Japanese woodblock prints. This is important to acknowledge because while Director Garland seems to abandon the urban environment of the techno-orient, it ironically falls back into a modernist aesthetic derived from Japanese culture.
I would argue that American minimalism is commodified quite differently than the roots of Japanese minimalism. There is something to be said about the luxury of American minimalism, the ability to maintain simiplicity works actively against American materialism and maximalism but is usually achieved or remarked as desirable by those with wealth and stature. This form of minimalism must be a choice and not simply the result of low socio-economic standing.
How did other people locate themselves within this science-fiction story that contains so many semblances of asian representation but failed to depict the agency or inclusion? How does Ex-Machina situate itself as a film that relies on techno-orientalism?
I searched for people talking about the comparisons between Ex-Machina and Frank Lloyd Wright after I did some research on his work and found this video — which seemed extremely interesting and relevant.