Circle 3 – Yujie

In circle 3, I kept the key ideas and media design developed during circle 1 and 2. Two things are still central to my project. The first one is to use fragmented body parts of the culturally marked dancer to resist the idea of returning to the whole which represents the so-called cultural essence. The whole is also easy to be categorized into racial stereotypes. The fragmented body parts then can be seen as a challenge. The second part is to continue offering the negative mode of seeing. The inverted color (or the negatives) can be seen as a metaphor for undeveloped images or hidden “truth” in the darkroom for one to see differently. 

I also added two things in the final circle: the preshow projections and the voice-over from my interview with the dancer. From the feedback after the showing, I receive helpful comments from the class for these two add-ons. I was told that they appreciate that the preshow projections allow them to explore the space and the circular setting forms a more intimate relationship between the dancer and the viewer. Also, the contradictions of performing the Japanese body discussed in the voice recording have some guiding effect for the viewer to get my intention. 

Here are some Isadoro patches

Here is the video document of the final performance