Clara Lim
The Ethereal Spirit of a Beauty
2017, Video Installation,1 min 39 seconds
15m by 2m (3840 x 480 px)
About:
The Ethereal Spirit of a Beauty is a video re-mix of 1987 Hong Kong romantic horror film of the same name. Artwork appropriates and glitches footage starring Leslie Cheung as Ning Choi-san, and Joey Wong as Nip Siu-sin to create something new. Melange of images is overlaid with the sound of rain.
Footage Sources:
00:00 – 00:04 – Artist unknown, source files
00:04 – 00:16 – Waterfall Scene 1 by Mark Ferrari, 8bit Game Art
00:16 – 00:26 – A Chinese Ghost Story Directed by Ching Siu-tung,
00:26 – 00:31 – The Garden of Words, 2013
00:31 – 00:36 – A Chinese Ghost Story Directed by Ching Siu-tung,
00:36 – 00:53 – A Chinese Ghost Story Directed by Ching Siu-tung,
00:53 – 00:59 – Polygonal cosmic by Gesh
01:00 – 01:03 – Waterfall Scene 2 by Mark Ferrari, 8bit Game Art
01:03 – 01:12 – Artwork generated by Capcom/SNK’s artists in the 90’s and early 2000’s.
01:12 – 01:18 – A Chinese Ghost Story Directed by Ching Siu-tung,
01:18 – 01:22 – Hand Grab by the edge, Artist unknown
01:22 – 01:39 – Plasma Stripes by Biff Tenon
Video Stills
Media Wall Photos
Photography credit to Solomon Quek Jia Liang
The Ethereal Spirit of a Beauty, MAN NTU LED,
15m by 2m (3840 x 480 px), North Spine Plaza NTU Singapore 2017
Methodology
In order to capture the love story between Xiao Qian, the female ghost spirit and Yan Chixia the male scholar, it was important to build up a narrative of how they met, their conflict of love and their eventual tragic ending.
I was inspired by the mesh between old hong kong cinematography and modern moving images in .GIF formsResulting in a contrasting aesthetic, The Ethereal Spirit of a Beauty is my interpretation of Old and New, keeping in line with the brief, “Beyond the Seas”, inspired after Asian myths. The videos are sourced and stitched together with After effects and PremierPro.
A very large emphasis is placed on the colouration of the whole video, to stay true to its Vapourwave inspiration.
Main Inspiration
I was inspired by various creative ethos of creatives like Robert Zhao, Ho Tzun Yen and the idea where, there’s enough noise and images created each and everyday. As artists, we need to learn how to curate, appropriate and re-interpret your own meaning to an original idea. Most particularly, a exhibition that i chance upon at NTU CCA really inspired me greatly towards this angle of the project.
https://artsequator.com/exhibition-ntu-cca-ghosts-spectres/
http://conditionsofproduction.tumblr.com/interview-hotzunyen
In addition, visually, I am inspired by Ryoji Ikeda and his work, Data.flux and Supersymmetry where he explores visuals where the audience are overwhelmed by sound and visuals unfolding on a large scale, and gain deep insight into the scheme of things and in my case, a narrative visual installation.
http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/31175/ryoji-ikeda-s-new-installation-supersymmetry/
Links to my previous development:
Part 1 – Initial Concept and Proposal
Part 2 – Progress 1
Part 3 – Progress 2
Contact info (for enquiries, collaboration and commissions)
Clara Lim (clarrot)
+65 96882596
theclarrot@gmail.com