Exquisite Corpse 浮生若夢
USA 2017
director, editor, co-cinematographer
HD video, 16mm film, color, sound
USA 2017
director, editor, co-cinematographer
HD video, 16mm film, color, sound
On April 10th’s morning, 2017, in front of my dorm’s gate, a white man called me a “Chinese bitch” and threatened me with an open blade knife. Three minutes after the confrontation, the police came and arrested him. A week after the incident, to cope with the psychological distress caused by the incident, two friends and I played the Exquisite Corpse, a poetry game originated from Dadaism. We composed four poems by taking turns to write verse for a whole night. These poems later became the narrative spine for this poetry film, Exquisite Corpse(浮生若梦 in Chinese version). This movie comtemplates on death and questions the definition of belonging. With an elusive and abstract style, it delves into my unconscious emotions during the process of healing.
By mixing both 16mm and HD videos, I construct a visual world in-between the real and the imaginary. My alter-ego, TA (they/them in Chinese), drifts through memories and dreams on the screen. They appears as a phantasmic figure ruminating near my school campus, where the incident happened, and finally disappears after submerging themself under the tub of water. The haunting score echoes with the aesthetics of the imageries and proses. The movie as a whole invokes feelings of desperation through a mesmerizing viewing experience.
By mixing both 16mm and HD videos, I construct a visual world in-between the real and the imaginary. My alter-ego, TA (they/them in Chinese), drifts through memories and dreams on the screen. They appears as a phantasmic figure ruminating near my school campus, where the incident happened, and finally disappears after submerging themself under the tub of water. The haunting score echoes with the aesthetics of the imageries and proses. The movie as a whole invokes feelings of desperation through a mesmerizing viewing experience.