山中無樹
IS THERE A PIN ON THE MOUNTAIN
2021
纪录实验影像 Experimental documentary
材料 Medium 数字影像 HD video
双耳音效 Stereo
38 mins
版数 Edition 3 + 1 AP
这是我在全球疫情大流行开始前的最后一部动态影像作品。从这个角度来看，它与后来发生的家庭暴力和人生威胁构成了双重危机。在极度不安的生理和心理环境下完成的这件作品，其创作过程伴随疫情的演变时刻发生着变化。讽刺的是，这是一部我原本打算纪录前男友和他母亲共度巴黎温馨时光的家庭团聚旅游Vlog，却成为了不仅他们母子之间，也是我与他之间关系破裂的“压死骆驼的最后一根稻草”。
在亲历家庭暴力之后，经过一年的反思，我决定马赛克他和他母亲的脸，并修改对话的声音。这是我对自己的保护和对这段经历的告别——从今以后，我只以艺术家的身份来看待这段经历里暴露的问题。这部电影因此重生了，尽管人物的身份不明，但这并不妨碍我们看到，在被剥夺了具体的身份后，我们都是“原型”，都是暴力的“参与者”，无论身处暴力的哪一方。
I initiated the film before the global pandemic began. From this perspective, it was created under the mindset of an impending, yet unrecognised crisis (a dual crisis of sorts), a mindset that underwent significant changes during the COVID epoch.
The film focuses on the time my ex-partner’s mother came to stay with us in our small Parisian flat. It started with an acidic argument, followed by introspective and reflective conversations with both the mother and my then-boyfriend. I found myself capturing how a repressive familial hierarchy within Chinese families is passed down generationally, with its core issue being a pathological patriarchal ideology.
His mother left before the outbreak, and our relationship rapidly deteriorated shortly thereafter, with the question becoming when, not if, to escape. Somewhat ironically, the film was originally planned to be a charming family video – where together we could one day look back and reminisce; it instead became the final straw. After a year of reflection on how I was to adapt, I decided to mask the faces and modify the voices of him and his mother. Essentially, this is my farewell to the life I once shared with him: from now on, I view this past – this slice of time – solely as an artist, and I create with the residuals.
Thus, this film was reborn, with the characters’ faces opaque: the distinctly human facial architecture no longer a part of their form. It is adrift; pixelated out of shape. But this doesn’t prevent us from realising we are witnessing a Chinese woman visiting her son studying in Paris. Stripped of any concrete identity, they become archetypes. Behind these masks, we all become participants in the violence — whether as the perpetrator or the victim.
在亲历家庭暴力之后，经过一年的反思，我决定马赛克他和他母亲的脸，并修改对话的声音。这是我对自己的保护和对这段经历的告别——从今以后，我只以艺术家的身份来看待这段经历里暴露的问题。这部电影因此重生了，尽管人物的身份不明，但这并不妨碍我们看到，在被剥夺了具体的身份后，我们都是“原型”，都是暴力的“参与者”，无论身处暴力的哪一方。
I initiated the film before the global pandemic began. From this perspective, it was created under the mindset of an impending, yet unrecognised crisis (a dual crisis of sorts), a mindset that underwent significant changes during the COVID epoch.
The film focuses on the time my ex-partner’s mother came to stay with us in our small Parisian flat. It started with an acidic argument, followed by introspective and reflective conversations with both the mother and my then-boyfriend. I found myself capturing how a repressive familial hierarchy within Chinese families is passed down generationally, with its core issue being a pathological patriarchal ideology.
His mother left before the outbreak, and our relationship rapidly deteriorated shortly thereafter, with the question becoming when, not if, to escape. Somewhat ironically, the film was originally planned to be a charming family video – where together we could one day look back and reminisce; it instead became the final straw. After a year of reflection on how I was to adapt, I decided to mask the faces and modify the voices of him and his mother. Essentially, this is my farewell to the life I once shared with him: from now on, I view this past – this slice of time – solely as an artist, and I create with the residuals.
Thus, this film was reborn, with the characters’ faces opaque: the distinctly human facial architecture no longer a part of their form. It is adrift; pixelated out of shape. But this doesn’t prevent us from realising we are witnessing a Chinese woman visiting her son studying in Paris. Stripped of any concrete identity, they become archetypes. Behind these masks, we all become participants in the violence — whether as the perpetrator or the victim.
