【Lecture 18.04.2025】 Along the Deep Interface of Digital Food: Islanding and Networking amidst the Territorialization of Uygur Cuisine
Release time:2025-04-16

The influencer economy has garnered explosive scholarly attention in recent years. While existing studies have yielded rich insights, a more holistic approach is needed to examine the chain effects operating behind the screen. The infrastructural turn has prompted an epistemological shift, along with the continuous effort by Terranova’s (2004) Networked Culture, Bratton’s (2015) Interface, and Banet-Weiser’s (2018) Economy of Visibility. Establishing an interface regime involves configuring gates to facilitate and enact flows of particular values and commodities while simultaneously segmenting, blocking, and filtering them. This paper presents the stories of four Uygur individuals embedded in the supply chain of Uygur food, who perform their value and shape the aesthetics of logistical thinking while being disciplined by it. We trace the movement of agro-produce, cooked food, and human subjects along the deep interface of digital food, with their values redefined and renegotiated in the process. Traditional Uygur culture, constituted by orchards, ethnic attire, outdoor cooking sites, street markets, and farms, enhances visibility and data flow for the girlboss and scriptwriter. Conversely, for delivery workers, proficiency in the Uygur language poses challenges in platform navigation, built environments, and customer interactions. Crucially, the processes of islandization and networking are not mutually exclusive but deeply intertwined, giving rise to atomized yet interconnected territories within the Uygur food supply chain. This study, thus, attempts to add new light to the ongoing scholarly discussions on how digital interfaces reconfigure society and the built environment.