Chinoiserie (ode to Wuhan)

​2019, digital video, stereo, 18:13

Chinoiserie (ode to Wuhan) documents an improvised, guerrilla performance by Elena in the swimming pool of Hongguang Jianguo Hotel in Wuhan, China. Elena was artist-in-residence at K11 Art Village in Wuhan when she found this pool and spa, advertised by the hotel as open and usable by guests.

Wuhan city has an optimistic, chaotic, old-meets-new, under construction/destruction atmosphere. Chinoiserie is the artist's attempt to find an entry point to cultural immersion, in a fast-flowing China awash with contradictions.

Screenings/Exhibitions
Volcana Brainstorm (hot lava version), Yokohama Triennale, Japan 2020
La Piscina, Muratcentoventidue Artecontemporanea, Bari Italy 2019 
Volcana Brainstorm, Koganecho Bazaar, Yokohama Japan 2019 

Credits
Camera: John Campbell
Assist: Jingyan Yu
Sound: Lindsay Webb
Music: Gioachino Antonio Rossini Petite Polka Chinoise
Voiceover: Mehdi Okacha
Poem: Théophile Gautier Chinoiserie (1838)

Links
watch video
​see also Japonisme (self care)