Qi was created in response to my first visit to China. The images, sounds, and emotions evoked in the piece relate to my experience of a place full of contradictions and cultural complexity.
I represent my inability to grasp this place of cataclysmic change as an impossible architecture that continuously builds, resolves, and falls apart. The imagery is disrupted by digital interference, datamoshing, and bending. At some points there is a chaos of visual stimuli—overwhelming or unsettling—and at others a sense of wonder.
The piece ends with prayer flags captured at an ancient Tibetan Buddhist/Taoist temple in northwest China, symbolizing the enduring expression of ancient culture in the midst of contemporary upheaval.
5:00 minutes, HD video with stereo sound; animation by Rachel Clarke; music composed by Stephen Blumberg.