tiny little joys / toutes petites petites joies
An art video sound poem installation in parts, the work is designed to be compartmentalized by the passing of time, medium, language, geography and gestures to mirror the process of (compounded) grief and bereavement.
The poem was first ideated around 1997 and written during/after 27 years of compounded grief in conjunction with a 2D visual series "Circle of Grief No. 1-6" birthed in 2017 (referencing the Kübler-Ross model).
Then the poem reading was installed/performed/filmed by during an Asian museum debut after three years of postponement in 2023. After documenting the realtime performance, this new work was then created by a collagery of original sound composition accompanied by a live unedited initial reading/recording of the poem in English. The French subtitles were translated, created and added to this inaugural video art film edition solely for Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin*.
The raw audio of the poem reading symbolizes the vulnerability
when faced with our deep sorrow, and the sound composition of
vocalizations inspired by Mandarin opera as a nod to heritage
(and also a yearning to learn/reconnect) is created as a light
supporting role to the dominant voice/language expressed by the
leading emotion through English.
We hear the dissonance and conflict in the
sound converging into one another
representing the embedded chaos that the
"Circles of Grief" may generate during any
type of excavation and healing.
This French subtitled version is the
third language the poem has been
translated into
-- the first, Mandarin as an
unpublished exercise (wip),
the second Korean as a
semi-isolated
audio-only looped
in exhibition) and
now this third iteration
as a time-based
art video
hopefully presenting in
festival/performance
form*.
The intention is to keep creating
for site specific occasions to
collectively heal together
in all our languages
and expressions.
The poem was first ideated around 1997 and written during/after 27 years of compounded grief in conjunction with a 2D visual series "Circle of Grief No. 1-6" birthed in 2017 (referencing the Kübler-Ross model).
Then the poem reading was installed/performed/filmed by during an Asian museum debut after three years of postponement in 2023. After documenting the realtime performance, this new work was then created by a collagery of original sound composition accompanied by a live unedited initial reading/recording of the poem in English. The French subtitles were translated, created and added to this inaugural video art film edition solely for Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin*.
The raw audio of the poem reading symbolizes the vulnerability
when faced with our deep sorrow, and the sound composition of
vocalizations inspired by Mandarin opera as a nod to heritage
(and also a yearning to learn/reconnect) is created as a light
supporting role to the dominant voice/language expressed by the
leading emotion through English.
We hear the dissonance and conflict in the
sound converging into one another
representing the embedded chaos that the
"Circles of Grief" may generate during any
type of excavation and healing.
This French subtitled version is the
third language the poem has been
translated into
-- the first, Mandarin as an
unpublished exercise (wip),
the second Korean as a
semi-isolated
audio-only looped
in exhibition) and
now this third iteration
as a time-based
art video
hopefully presenting in
festival/performance
form*.
The intention is to keep creating
for site specific occasions to
collectively heal together
in all our languages
and expressions.