OCAT Screens: Rhythm-analysis

OCAT Screens is an annual program of OCAT Shenzhen first launched in 2009. This year’s OCAT Screens has invited Chinese contemporary artist Cao Fei to curate Rhythm-analysis, a special program that comprises five sections: Invisible Hands, Vanishing Bodies, The Pearl River Delta and the Water Bodies, Urban-Rural Space and System, Urban Emotions in Lingnan, and Fireworks. The theme of the year, Rhythm-analysis, derived from Henri Lefebvre’s titular title, not only brings Cao Fei’s reflections on the internal structure of moving images, but also represents her concerns for and interpretations of their underlying substances of them.

This year’s selection includes documentaries from several distinguished filmmakers, including Zhou Hao, Cao Dan, and Huang Weikai; and experimental shorts and performance videos from artists lauded for their video and performance practices, the list of which includes Zhou Tao, Zhang Jiaping and Hu Xiang Qian. The program also features experimental animation from cross-disciplinary artists Ou Ning, Lei Lei, Wu Chao, among others. A wide range of emerging artists and collectives in the Guangdong province—Feng Huo, 3D Group, Zhu Jianlin, Liu Jiawen, Lin Aojie, Sun Wenhao, Lai Zhijie, Chen Dandizi, to name a few—will also be sharing their recent productions. Stemming from different parts of China, these authors have each managed to find their path into the convolution of contemporary Chinese moving image-making. From the 60s to the 90s generation, these artists span 30 years of age; albeit their disparate life experiences and aesthetic objectives, they all employ the language of moving images to write and tell original stories supported by idiosyncratic narrative models and visual tropes. The majority of the works are informed by their author’s particular experience in the Pearl River Delta region, but through their subtle treatment and language, these works are elevated to reflect a diverse spectrum of physical experiences and spiritual pulses against the backdrop of sweeping globalization and drastic transformation in contemporary Chinese societies. These works establish a cultural and speculative space that transcends the conventions of a geographically-bound approach.

Aside from a talk attended by the filmmakers following the screenings of each section, OCAT Shenzhen will host a series of related events, including an opening talk between the curator, commentators, and scholars; sharing sessions with participating artists; and salons, to enhance the program and its reciprocation.