Imagine Apple is a state. Would you rather live in Apple or in China? Christian von Borries poses this seemingly absurd question in his documentary-essay film IPHONECHINA (2014). Von Borries is also interested in a further problem: When states are run like companies are companies run like states? It is no coincidence that Apple freed up one of its managers, Andy Kemp, to work for Homeland Defense.
Apple, the world’s biggest concern, makes 10% of its sales in the world’s most populace country – China, and also the country where all Apple products are made. The communist-capitalist state claims it is on its way to becoming a “harmonious society”. Since the events at Tiananmen, there is an unspoken understanding with the population: if the population abstains from political engagement the state promises to reward them with private wealth. The installation version of the work was premiered 2013 at the Werkleitz Festival Utopien vermeiden (Avoiding Utopias).