Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Techno-Doping East Is Red




A story on Helsingin Sanomat science page caught my eye yesterday, on Chinese Olympic team uniforms designed by Nike and the featured story on "techno-doping", where for example the latest inventions in nanotechnology are used to design sophisticated tracksuits, swimming suits and sports shoes for the athletes thus gaining better results when such things as air friction are minimized to their extremes.

The most interesting thing in the story, though, was the image above, of track and field uniform -- in the best Lara Croft sci-fi spirit -- for the Chinese team sportswomen where the imagery of communism (Chinese flag) and capitalism (Nike logo) converge in an ultra-technological, (un)holy 21st century union of two ideologies formerly considered their polar opposites. A hyper-trained androgynous android from the Eastern human factories; the narcissism of Nazism and fetishism of fascism now joined by the consumerism of communism?

  • "Techno-Doping" and the New Olympics
  • Sneak Peek: Nike Shoes & Uniforms For The Chinese Athletes in Beijing
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