film performance for Feng Chen's Pirate (2014)
Using Harmon's skills as a theatrical actor, the script written by Chen was memorized and then an invented language was developed for filming. Using the same memorized emotional cadence of the original English script, the invented language allowed for an improvisational vocal framework.
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Pirate is an extension of Feng Chen's previous work Single Eye and was made using a device given by a friend who can only see through one eye due to a physical condition. In Pirate, Feng Chen asks viewers to watch the movie with only one eye because he uses a new technology that challenges peoples' visual and sensory experience. The audience is able to see three-dimensional images with one eye, but the video as depicted through the pirate's perspective is flat.
In Pirate, he attempts to alter peoples' viewing habits by applying new shooting techniques and exploring a different way of seeing. A new visual experience leads to Feng Chen contemplate what else is possible, such as the creation of new visual effects. It has also caused him to rethink the impact of what we see in our everyday lives on our overall experience. The light information received from our retina is full of data that informs our worldview and subconscious. This is what he wants to study and explore.
text courtesy Art Basel Hong Kong 2018 and Capsule Shanghai