19 or how a massacre is remembered
Tiny Little Cosmos provided video design for 19 or how a massacre is remembered, an immersive installation performed at Columbia University’s Shapiro Theater. The installation explored the memory of Chinese dissident Liao Yiwu through an interpretation of his essay “19 Days” originally published in The Paris Review.
In “19 Days,” Liao explores all the June 4ths he remembers, centered around June 4th 1989, the day of the Tiananmen Square massacre in China, about which Liao wrote the poem "Massacre." “Massacre” memorialized the student protests in Tiananmen Square, the largest non-violent protest in China as it turned into a bloodbath.
Liao’s work spread like wildfire, becoming an anthem for the populace and causing his arrest and imprisonment for four years in a hard labor camp. With an arresting narrative and innovative use of video, light and sound, this meditation on memory and life was a dreamscape of the mind of a man whom Salman Rushdie called one of "the few people who are real writers".
The video design involved the use of multiple screens, projectors, and live operators that followed the performers, using moving image as a medium for the experience of being haunted by memories you cannot shake. Using a combination of original and archival footage, the images framed the experience for the audience as they moved through the installation, following the performers from the theatre into the cramped spaces of the prison bathroom, the poet’s apartment, and his own psyche. We see Liao contend with the government that imprisoned him, the girlfriend he found solace with, and the lingering trauma that follows him after his release from prison.
Creative Team
directed by Mei Ann Teo
produced by Mariana Ortiz
dramaturgy by Bindi Kang
scenic design by Mellie Katakalos & Kyu Shin
lighting design by Jennifer Reiser
costume design by Liene Dobraja
sound design by Jon Bernstein
video design by Deepthi Welaratna
performed by Kenneth Lee*, Mari Yamamoto
