UNIT2: A Journey of Life and Death

Xinrui Li / 25th March 2021 / Leave a comment / Uncategorised

Xinrui Li

25th Mar. 2021

Material

I am still researching the materials to use, but based on the current model, I have used hardening clay, a material that records the traces of the process, which I think has a certain mood and temperature, but also creates a sense of instability, but in reality, the material is stronger when it hardens, which creates a sense of unease in the viewer, but at the same time the texture of the clay has a certain soothing quality.

Purpose

Fig. 1. Tomb of Merlin, Joseph Michael Gandy, 1815

Fig. 2. Rodney McMillian, Untitled (neighbors) (still), 2017

Fig. 3. Cecilia Bertoni, Camera #5, 2019

The Covid-19 has claimed the lives of many people whose journey through life might have been more than that, but because of this disaster, their lives have ended and we have lost loved ones, and the bodies are subjected to very strict measures because of medical-related requirements, we cannot even see them one last time, they cannot even have a decent funeral, and we do not even have time to think about what life means to us and what death means as the disease rushes to take it away.

I believe that understanding life is a very important thing, understanding why we live, what it means to live, how we should think about the gifts that life gives us, I wanted to create a series of installations that would express a process of reflection on how we regard life and death, as well as expressing our thoughts and condolences to those who have passed away, providing a place for people to contemplate, to stop and think, and to escape the hustle and bustle of silence.

Emotional response

Fig. 4. *Residenza*, Carolina Balucani, 2018

Fig. 5. On the corner, Compagnia Dello Scompiglio, 2019

The emotional response is the core and most important part of my project, I hope that the audience entering the space will be able to elicit a certain degree of emotional response; I will create the atmosphere of the space, through light, gas, smell, etc. to elicit people’s sensory response, and through the choice of materials, but the whole project is still in a stage of experimentation and continuous research, so the pop-up is also a stage of experimentation. I chose hardening clay because I thought it could carry the traces of the process and the temperature, and when one touches it, it is hard and cold, but with a touch of warmth, I have to say, because something sad happened to me personally during the project, forcing me to say goodbye to life, and that was the first time I experienced It was also the first time I experienced a feeling that I can’t quite describe: a coldness and despair that seems to come from the abyss that consumes you, but at the same time warmth and strength that sprouts from it, and with that coldness, you feel like you have gained strength. From a personal emotional experience, I think the touch of hardening clay allows me to evoke an emotional connection within me.

Technical aspects

Because hardening clay is inherently supportive and hard, I did not use any other material for support. It can be shaped as much as you like in its soft state, and once the shape is set, you can wait 24-48 hours for it to dry completely and become hard. During the shaping process, very random forms are formed due to natural forces and traces of force. Although the whole is in a vertically upward direction, the surface of the clay is uneven, and this uneven texture is exactly what I wish to have. In shaping the forms I also inject my emotions, just like the clay work and its author, through the texture of the material, carrying an emotional connection in between.

Story

Conceptual sketches of act one to six, Xinrui Li

Storytelling is another equally important part of my project, it is the soul, so to speak, that runs through the entire project, and it is something I am currently working on. I want to build a narrative structure of my concept, so that the entire path of the installation becomes a journey of deep communication with viewer-themselves and with life, based on the current narrative structure, I named them to act one to six, I wanted it to present a feeling similar to that of an immersive theatre experience, but it is not a performance, but the audience’s own real-life experiences and feelings.

Act one is despair and agony as if there is an irresistible gravitational pull that draws you into a vortex you don’t even want to accept, and there is nothing you can do to stop it.

Act two resists evade, and continuing injuries, where we begin to resist the fact that this is happening, begin to avoid and deceive ourselves and are accompanied by ongoing pain.

In the third act, grieved and compunction, the story turns to its most painful part, when we come to the sobering realisation that the event has irrevocably happened. The passing of life means that our loved ones are no longer present in this world, except in our memories, and this is a very painful stage, after the death of the loved one, and perhaps it is at this stage that we really feel the extent of the pain of loss for each one.

The story comes to the fourth act of external stimulation, which is actually still a stage of escape, where we are perhaps healed by some factor, perhaps the company of family, or happy memories, or the power of time to make us not suffer as much as before. But inside you are still in a state of avoidance, still unwilling to admit that it happened, and then you encounter external stimulate, such as going to a place where you have been with the one before, which forces you to recall some memories, such as an uninformed person asking you about this, or watching TV at home when you suddenly remember that the one was there with you. There is no escaping it.

The next part of the story is the healing part, the fifth act of self-reconciliation, where we begin to reconcile with ourselves, to stop being in it, to learn to look at it in a positive way and to put our lives in order. we begin to think about what the loss of life brings to us, cherishing, lightness, respect, etc. Everyone must feel differently, but we all reach a state of reconciled mind.

In the last act, there is healing and peace, we are able to face the thing openly and have a different understanding of life and death, from which we can gain some energy. It is as if you have undergone a baptism of life, accompanied by a reflection on life, renewed, and with this warmth and breezy smile, you continue to live your vivid life.