Chris Zhongtian Yuan. Licking, Weeping, Baying

About

Licking, Weeping, Baying showcases a series of video installations, sculp­tures and drawings surrounding two recent films Cloudy Song (2022) and No Door, One Window, Only Light (2023) by the artist. They delve into the themes of failure, pa­thology, co-dependency and emotional labour within familial, institutional, and corporate contexts Set in Somerset House’s vast vaults, Cloudy Song follows a future exile's quest to recover memories aided by a somewhat ineffective "care robot". The film explores the relationship between sound and memory in the Chinese diaspora, featuring a soundtrack blending AI-generated music with original compositions by Wuhan musician Lu Yan.

Further exploring individual existence within marginalised communities, No Door, One Window, Only Light focuses on the artist's late friend, L, who passed away in 2022. This introspective video series intricately traces every connection to this significant individual, delving into themes of home, absence, trauma, and sanity. As Dr. Sophie Guo writes: “L’s return home was overshadowed by homesickness, where the home itself literally became a space of illness. Figures of homesickness are often marked by a condition of internal alterity. Politically, they frequently manifest as subjects of rebellions or uprisings, which consequently are forced into exile or relegated to a marginalised status within society. This is enforced to preserve the imagined coherence of nations, families, or bodily selves, which, in truth, should have been understood as heterogenous entities.”

The artist will also debut his latest performance during the opening evening. The new performance, titled “Intimate Labour” pays homage to Andrea Fraser’s seminal performance Official Welcome, in order to contemplate the role of performance and emotion and their nuanced implications in domestic and institutional contexts.

The research of the work is supported by Arts Council England Develop Your Creative Practice Grant.