Chen Chieh-jen: Realm of Reverberations

The Chen Chieh-jen: Reverberations series concludes with a screening of two short works demonstrating the artist's socially-engaged approach to video.

Both works were made in collaboration with the community living in Taipei’s Losheng Sanatorium​. They each take a different approach to representing the lives of its residents, and Chen's engagements with them.

Realm of Reverberations

Realm of Reverberations takes us into the remains of Taipei’s Losheng Sanatorium. This was established by the colonial government of Japan in the 1930s to house and quarantine people with leprosy. At the point of filming, seventy per cent of the premises had been demolished.

In this work, Chen presents the perspectives of several individuals living and working within the sanatorium. Through these perspectives, Chen explores possible points of intersection, and the lingering effects of a past which is perhaps much less settled that it may appear.

In 2015, Chen Chieh-jen returned to Losheng Sanatorium for a screening of Realm of Reverberations. It was organised in the style of a temple festival parade.

Wind Songs

Wind Songs is a reenactment of what had been captured in the documentation of the ceremony. It pays close attention to details such as the facial expressions of audience members.

The work explores the impossibility of faithfully representing the bodily experience, perceptions and memories of either a social movement or a ceremony. Instead, it offers an imaginary shaped by these largely overlooked and seemingly ineffable moments and states.

Programme

Realm of Reverberations, Taiwan 2014, digital video, black and white, sound, 23 min, Mandarin with English subtitles

Wind Songs, Taiwan 2015, digital video, black and white, sound, 23 min, Mandarin with English subtitles

More info:
Event on Tate Modern

Text source and photo credit:  Film Taiwan and Tate Modern