Venues

Regarding the venue for the exhibition, I have chosen spaces within the ECA as the optimal location. This choice allows my curatorial project to be in closer proximity to my peers, thereby preventing any diversion of audience. Upon surveying the exhibition spaces within ECA, I find that the ECA Cinema (Room HB_O.25) is a splendid choice. This 56-seat cinema boasts a projection capability of up to 4K and is equipped with Dolby 5.1 surround sound, making it an ideal space for film screenings. If the room is unavailable, I consider the ECA Lecture Theatre as a back up plan. In comparison to the cinema, it offers a larger capacity to accommodate more viewers, and its theater-style layout provides a more immersive cinematic experience for the audience.

Sourcing Artist’s Work

Artists list(already agree)

Name: Yixin Shen 沈怡欣
Work: The Lives of Youngsters Living in China
Duration: 1 min | 46 seconds
Introduction: Inspired by Pietro Coppolecchia’s “Beats, Rhymes & Life of Amsterdam Youth Culture” which documented the lifestyle of the youngest generation in Amsterdam. From then on, I began to wonder how the cultural life of China’s youth will be different.

I chose this film based on its unique portrayal of the lives of contemporary Chinese youth, presented in a short time. The filmmaker skillfully conveys the collective memories of Chinese youth culture through fast-paced editing techniques, rendering it an ideal choice for the opening of an exhibition. Viewers are able to capture the essence of the exhibition right from the beginning through this film.

Name: Jiawen Wu 吴嘉文
Work: The Moment The Sleeper Knows He Is Dreaming
Duration: 4 mins | 19 seconds
Introduction: A video poem that was written for patients with sleep disorders because of work, discusses the reconciliation between body ethics and biological capital.

I have chosen this work because much like the subsequent piece “Please Do Not Tell Her,” it sheds light on a poignant social issue prevalent in Chinese society. The pervasive phenomenon of extreme work-related stress has been a topic of widespread discourse in recent years, and artists have chosen to engage with this issue through their art. In this particular work, the artist deliberately avoids depicting human actors and instead utilizes installations in the video that serves as performative agents with a distinct narrative purpose.

Duration: 5 mins

Introduction: This work reflects on the Chinese educational system. Wang Huihui is a young girl with a genius-level IQ only one point below that of Stephen Hawking. However, on a day in 2015 when she was accepted into the best university in China at the age of 9, Wang Huihui disappeared.

This piece focuses on the issue of childhood education. While sharing the same concern for societal issues, Wang deviates from the metaphorical approach adopted by Jiawen Wu and employs a conventional narrative form to tell the story of a young girl. In this work, we witness how the traditional narrative is presented within 5 minutes. Does a shorter duration make the story more powerful? or inconvincible? This might provoke the audience to contemplate the medium of micro movies.

 

Name: Xingchen Zhang 张星晨

Work: Everything Is Here

Duration: 11 mins
Introduction: This work focuses on a sense of ‘homeless’ in Chinese young people. This is a journey of a young person returning to their hometown. In his mind, he returns to his hometown, even though there are no loved ones there, only a few graves. “Home” is always under his feet, but it’s also a distant shore that he can never reach.

This can be seen as a direct response to the first movie “The Lives of Youngsters Living in China,” which highlighted the diverse cultural experiences of Chinese youth. In contrast, this new movie portrays the prevalent sense of rootlessness and loneliness that young people often feel in urban life. The film keenly captures the shared emotions of today’s youth and employs distinct techniques in shooting and editing to convey the artist’s thoughts effectively.

Week 6 Planning Projects: venues, artists, artwork / Through the Lens of Youth by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0