Chris Zhongtian Yuan

No Door, One Window, Only Light

Three channel HD film, super 8mm film converted to digital image, color, sound

26 min 32 sec

2023

The three channel film delves into the life of a friend from the artist's hometown, L, who passed away in 2022, raising questions about home, absence, trauma, and sanity. Upon returning from a European journey, L fell into a state of isolation, plagued by the feeling of being followed, and hearing phantom noises. These experiences led him to stop all outdoor activities, ultimately resulting in his untimely death. L's passing prompted the artist to search for L's traces, while embarking on an imagined letter exchange. In the act of reconstructing spaces where the ghosts have passed through, they want to ask: how to forget and remember simultaneously during moments of both a personal and collective amnesia? The installation features three autonomous channels, each with a focused study into space, text and rendering. Sound scape is composed of the artist's friend Huiqi He's immersive recording at Yuan's home, the artist's own sound design, and original music from London-based experimental group Langham Research Centre.

About the Artist

Chris Zhongtian Yuan graduated from the Architectural Association in London and University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Their practice examines the ways in which spaces of absence and exile are politicised through sound and texts. Recomposing vernacular sonic and spatial materials, interweaving explorations of filmic structure and technique, their work investigates narratives and relations simultaneously building and dismantling our everyday spaces. Solo exhibitions include "Home Is Where the Music Is", Reading International, Reading (2023); “All Trace Is Gone, No Clamour for a Kiss", V.O Curations, London (2022); "1815", K11, Wuhan (2020). Recent group exhibitions and screenings include International Film Festival Rotterdam, Somerset House, Surplus Space, Whitechapel Gallery, Power Station of Art, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Hubei Museum of Art, OCAT Institute, Videoex Zurich, Venice Biennale of Architecture Greek Pavilion, among others. Yuan was awarded Film London FLAMIN Fellowship and Aesthetica Art Prize.