who says idle feelings have been cast away for long
Amsterdam, NL, 2024
"who says idle feelings have been cast away for long” captures the daily life of (a) Chinese living in an Amsterdam home, highlighting a series of subtle everyday moments. These moments primarily revolve around habitual life activities and small interactions with objects that stir the heart without eliciting strong emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness. Instead, they evoke
a profound and inexplicable moodiness that comes up during idle times. The title, from a well-known ci poem by Feng Yansi 冯延巳, beautifully encapsulates these inexpressible feelings.
translation of the ci poem: who says idle feelings have been cast away for long? every time spring comes, the melancholy remains the same. i indulge in drunkenness before the flowers each day, despite my haggard face when looking at myself in the mirror. i ask the willow by the riverbank why this feeling grows like this every year. with the wind filling my sleeves,
i stand alone on a small bridge, watching the new moon rise above the grove after everyone has gone home.
A reed boat sailing plan was also introduced, inviting people to spend idle moments among the abundant reeds in Amsterdam parks during the summer.
This project suppoted by Amsterdam Fonds Voor De Kunst
watch link
* First screening at Lab 111，Amsterdam, NL, June, 2024
As part of the screening, Qihang Li performed a sound piece, < 平常的风景 >, an arrangement of audio fragments she recorded in response to the film.
Promotion design by Jan-Pieter Karper.
Typeface by Theetat Thunkijjanukij.
Sound piece performed by Qihang Li.
Flyer photo by Maiko Higuchi
* Second screening at Perdu theater, Amsterdam, NL, January 2025
This project was part of Quivering Bloom at Perdu Theater, a screening performance curated by Lorenzo García-Andrade. Seventy audience members were invited to bring their bowls, and I served chazuke during the screening. In the dim light of the projector, I quietly prepared the food on stage with gentle movements, fostering a subtle connection between the live images and the film.
茶泡饭（chazuke）recipe：Cold-soaked vegetables with handmade tofu and mixed fermented bean curd. Tea from a Chinese old cha factory 润思茶厂.
* An extra screening at E.SCAPE Art Space, Shanghai, CN, August 2024
