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.
This project suppoted by Amsterdam Fonds Voor De Kunst
watch link
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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.
A reed boat sailing plan was also introduced, inviting people to spend idle moments among the abundant reeds in Amsterdam parks during the summer.
Promotion design by Jan-Pieter Karper.
Typeface by Theetat Thunkijjanukij.
Sound piece performed by Qihang Li.
Flyer photo by Maiko Higuchi
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Second screening at E.SCAPE Art Space, Shanghai, CN, August 2024
