Rhythm Project
It seems that we hardly ever see women in narrative cinema.
Women on screen are always presented as a naked sexual object to male audiences. Due to the socially unquestionable patriarchy of the 20th centuries, the classic Hollywood cinema has been dominated by men. But experimental cinema is a new art for women to explore their own expression and voice.
Because I have always been interested in writing about women, I wanna show power relations in the digital age through the concept of Foucault’s Panopticon. The invasion of women’s privacy caused by pervasive pinhole cameras and related leaks, the secondary victimisation of women who have been sexually assaulted through human searches, the ease with which addresses of women living alone can be obtained from takeaway tickets, the uploading of couples’ sex videos to pornographic websites …… Women who are clearly free individuals are still in the shackles of circular prisons and surveillance.
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It’s easy to see how innovations in technology can be helpful to the creation of women’s films. I ever wrote a thesis on power relations on screen in the digital age. I have been wanting to empower women with digital technology since then.
I was inspired by my favourite contemporary artist Ryoji Ikeda’s data.tron, part of Datamatics (2006-present), considered by critics to be a continuation and embodiment of the idea of minimalism in music. It is a series of experiments exploring physical and mathematical problems. In the infinite space between 0 and 1, visitors will experience the vastness of the data universe. In this work, each visual image pixel is calculated in strict accordance with mathematical principles, consisting of pure mathematics and large amounts of data. These images are projected onto a large screen, enhancing the viewer’s perception and fully immersing them in the work.
I look to create a feminine world with data and code. In the infinite darkness and particle space, the female body, the desire for exploration and expression can be revealed to the fullest. At the same time, I want to explore how rhythms and rhymes collide and harmonise with each other in the interplay of sound and light.
I want to choose post-modern electronica as the basis of the sound, accompanied by female breathing and panting, to achieve a spiritual resonance. Outside of recording stop-motion animations of programming, I might consider using AE to create the simple animation. I will also be shooting silhouettes of women to make code visualisations of characters. In terms of editing, I prefer non-linear narrative.
I want women to be seen and see what they want to see.
Ryoji Ikeda, Supercodex [live set], 8 NOV 2013, WWW, Tokyo, JP: https://vimeo.com/87097294?embedded=true&source=video_title&owner=10759430
