EMBODIED INK

EMBODIED INK

MULTIMEDIA PERFORMANCE

Artists: Anna Borou Yu, Jiajian Min, Ying Shi, Greta Campo, Siyu Wang, Zezheng Li Year: 2024

2024 NEW INC DEMO CLOSING PERFORMANCE, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York

Manifesting as a two-dimensional artform, Chinese Calligraphy actually results from the process of three-dimensional stroke-body motion. The project "Embodied Ink" transcends the presentation form of this traditional medium, immerses its viewer in a multisensory environment with a poetic experience of calligraphy. Comprising an interactive installation and an immersive performance, the project translates stroke motion into body movements, further into real-time calligraphic visuals and sounds with motion capture technology. Drawing inspiration from art history research on the three schools of Chinese calligraphy, Seal Script (zhuanshu), Standard Script (kaishu), and Cursive Script (caoshu), it reconceives the physical media in terms of virtual potentialities, fixed forms in terms of forces and moving particles. The virtual field of the body reveals the imperceptible movement and philosophical ideas underlying calligraphy. The calligraphy is freed from its form, metamorphosing into flows like wind, loud and water. By recontextualizing the ancient art within a contemporary digital landscape, this work celebrates the cultural heritage’s capacity to evolve and resonate across epochs.

Special thanks to NEW INC, New Museum of Contemporary Art, EY Metaverse Lab, ONX Studio, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Andy Chiang, Harald Haraldsson, Tiange Zhou, Zeyu Wang