Artist bio

“ My task is to solve a puzzle with another puzzle that can't be seem, be touched, but to feel. " Lane Shi is a Chinese born interactive multi-media performer and sound artist residing in Brooklyn, New York. Graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2016, she has been on 8 tours including a 14-city China tour, 7 U.S tours with Boston experimental band Dent and Elizabeth Colour Wheel. Later in 2016, she devoted herself to mountain chest singing in different languages and dialects, sound designing, performing, and multi-media interactive art. Her solo multi-media exhibition Naked Winger was presented at Stovefactory Gallery, Charleston, MA; sound works for CrowdArt interactive exhibition was presented for months at 798 Art Zone in Beijing, China. In the same year, she started her solo project under the artist name Otay:onii, followed by full - length albums, local performances and music festivals. Her self-direct music video Shaoxing Nomad was premiered in Floated Magazine, selected to be featured in numerous film festivals such as Rome Prisma Film Awards, Istanbul International Experimental Film Festivals, Independent Talent International Film Festivals and many more. Starting in 2018, her journey of building characters in written story in automation forms began, she would be performing with her creation on stage in fall 2019. It is her calling to hold passion, creativity and sensitivity close to her heart, and express them in ways that birth honest and impactful interactions.

Title

Automaton Alive

Medium/Genre

Other

Artist Statement

Part I: Idea
Who is CC?
CC is an orphan, who is the last child on earth, first appeared in painting No.6 of the {A Returning Of A One That Must Be Loved} series. She/he/they/it (in this case will be using “da” as the pronounce) never had once enjoy the a touch of a motherhood, however survived the 4 years of life and live in a cave, believed the dripping sound of the crystal is the feeling of being cradled. On an ordinary day CC was traveling far to collect bamboo for making buckets to put the dripping crystal, the world started to crumble. Da was running in attempt to escape the falling of ruins when the earth is collapsing, however a concrete block fell down on da head, cause its death and closed the chapter of human/creature history on earth form the post dinosaur distinction till year 2211. In the last second of da life, CC cried out “mama!”, the sound echoed the whole valley, and da fell down, slowly closing the eyes. A string of tears flew down da left cheek, it continued flowing past the ash-coded cities, hills of dead bodies, hundred miles of the burning lands, the shred of tear finally landed in the cave, the home once CC had dreamt in wonders, suddenly, the lands all disappeared, the new world emerged with colors morphing into each other.


Part II: Concept
{ Automaton Alive }
"Tear is the missing ingredient to cook the soup of reincarnation"

It is a fictioneality work explores transgressive idiosyncrasy. The quote contains two parts: "soup of reincarnation" originates from a 5000+ year old Chinese saga about a bowl of soup cooked by lady Meng to forget about the past life upon the gateway of reincarnation; "tear is the missing ingredient" is my addition to the saga which is best described a theory that links reality and fiction together aiming to release the potential of transgression to the audience, powered by the story of CC at "end of the world" spectacle with a wish for the synchronicity of emotion and intention.

Part III: Making Process:
It is almost 2 years since I started to build the physical model of CC with working partner Justin Kirk, and now finally finished. It is built with aluminum, motors, servos, led light, epoxy and silicone, ran by a series of coding and midi signals. In the performance, CC would be singing and doing various movements according to the story. The whole performance has 3 epilogues: crumbling, a returning of, the day of. Choreographed dancing and animated projection mapping would applied to further the visual elements of the story.

Part IV: Background
It would be unjustified to not mention that Automaton Alive is the third epilogue of the 8 year project {A Returning of a One That Must be Loved}(2015-2022), in which 8 paintings, in details decipher the story of the last day of the world, would be "hidden" in selected 8 countries. The meaning of tears in homes symbolized emotions in honesty from the character “CC”, and the tears in the saga is the last ingredient for the world to return after the end. During the traveling, samples and sounds would be field recorded and collected to produce the music piece that would be the theme song of these 8 paintings. At the end of 2022, clues of destinations would announce those who are going to find the paintings, and the meeting would be held with all the travelers who bring back the painting, rewarded with a copy of the finished production of the theme song which won’t be released anywhere else.

How it fits into contest

This performing piece is in indeed a battle between putting down the past and extract what is the essence of life when we take forward into the next chapter of life. "And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than we first believed. "(Romans 13:11-12 NIV) The salvation, the awakening, the enlightenment that rises from each sacrifice or tragedy is a price we all had paid before. The remorse is perhaps cannot change what had gone, but the actions taken after the emotion of remorse is crucial and worth every inch of our bravery.

Credits

Camera: Haoran Chen
Editor: Lane Mingyu Shi
Music: Lane Mingyu Shi

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