Between Walls
- Installation with Yang Qin and Projection
In January 2022, a video drew attention to the trafficking and abuse of women in China. In the video, a woman is chained around her neck, locked in a closed room, with her teeth missing and mentally disturbed, while she is the mother of eight children. There is much evidence to prove she was abducted and sold to Xuzhou 20 years ago, but for unknown reasons, the case died along with the arrest of some of the rescuers. There are tens of thousands and more women like her who have been trafficked to this region from all over the country. But the area's remoteness and the local community's solidarity make rescue very difficult.
The idea of this work was to call attention to the problem of women trafficking. Between the walls we cannot see, there is a large group of people suffering. They long for someone outside to break the walls that imprison them. The more attention we give, the more chances to save them from hell.
Installation Performance 10 Minutes Version
Guidelines
The installation happens in two spaces, one shows a locked room with a trafficked woman, another is the outside world (by projection in a separate space, indicating the view of the public).
The wooden frame indicates a window, which is hung by two suspended wires. There are multiple bags with beans hanging on the wires, under each of them there is a plate/bowl. When audiences cut the bags, the beans drop into the plates to produce sounds, and the weight of the suspended wire is released, then the wooden frame descends. More bags get cut, the closer the “window” approaches outside visions. (There can be a little bag under the wooden frame to balance the weight of beans)
An iPhone with an OSC accelerator is tied to the performer's leg, when the performer walking, it will trigger an iron chain sound. Some plates will trigger the sound samples (it can be triggered by a vibration sensor in the plate or by having another person press a button to play the sound).
Instrument
· The performer doesn’t need to play in a traditional way (play with the stick’s rubber part to create a bright percussive sound). Instead, imagine it as a tool, and produce sounds with the performer’s gestures and movements. Try multiple techniques like using a glissando finger cover, the back of the stick, a pincer, or the nails for Guzheng. Produce the sounds with Max live processing, and also add some voice sounds.
· When an audience cuts the bag, stop playing after all beans in the bag have fallen, do nothing, or walk to the wooden frame and walk back (circle direction), start to play the Yang Qin; if an audio sample has been triggered, start to play the Yang Qin after the audio ends.
Ends: When all bags got cut, slowly walk to the wooden frame, reach the camera with one hand through the frame, and turn it off.