The Embodied Image (Part 2)

After these displays of interdisciplinary creativity, one might still wonder - what is it like for the artists and filmmakers involved? Having had the opportunity to interview Zen and SueKi, the brilliant minds behind the exhibition, I would like to share her personal perspectives and experiences of these collaborations.

Before Phenomenology of Light and Rhythms of the Earth, what were your experiences of interdisciplinary art? Has your impression changed after this project?

SueKi: I've always been interested in interdisciplinary art, as an artist as well as a spectator/audience. I find collaborating with artists from other disciplines really inspiring because it's a process of merging perspectives and approaches. Collaboration is not easy because we are always dealing partially with the unfamiliar, but it's also exactly because of that that new ideas can emerge. I've collaborated often with visual artists especially with sculptural work, musicians, actors, make-up artists, and photographers and filmmakers. This was my first time being involved in creating an immersive exhibition and I've had to learn a lot of new skills which is fun!

Zen: Before this project, I have been exploring interdisciplinary art and collaboration with friends from different disciplines (arts including dance and other types of visual art; design, earth and biological sciences). In 2024, my MA research thesis investigated the processes and cognition behind interdisciplinary collaboration in art and science. Hence, working across disciplines has been a long-term interest. More than an interest, I think interdisciplinary art is necessary, especially in providing a more holistic understanding of global issues such as environmental concerns or impacts of urbanisation, these issues are always multi-faceted. The different disciplines (art or not) provide different lenses to view the world, with their disciplines’ specificity helping us go more in-depth in exploring certain aspects of the world's phenomenon. 

In our project, Phenomenology of Light and Rhythms of the Earth, I explored the impacts of urbanisation through the themes of light and darkness with SueKi. This is my second time working with a dancer/dance choreographer, so I'm still relatively new in collaborating with this discipline. I learnt a lot from and with SueKi, especially in how our body is a vessel of knowledge, in terms of bodily intuition and response to emotions and memories. My work is usually not so emotional and more detached (more like how a researcher writes about their research in an objective manner, but mine is in a visual form), so working with SueKi helped open up more emotive and bodily dimensions to our project. 

What was your common ground, coming into Phenomenology of Light and Rhythms of the Earth? Did you perhaps discuss how you envisioned the project together?

In what ways has working with each other influenced both of your individual art practice?

SueKi: I think immersive exhibitions can be a bit like performance in that both are creating a world outside of reality. I am intrigued by Zen's approach to creating exhibitions that are quite sensitive in details and require observation and engagement from the audience. This has informed my way of creating my performance for the exhibition as well as conducting the movement workshop within the space of the exhibition, especially in considering how movement and the body can exist and interact with a space so carefully designed to invoke emotions and reflections of the spectator.

Zen: As an installation art artist with a photography background (I graduated from a photography major at ADM, NTU) my art practice has been centered on observing environmental phenomenon and communicating them through my artworks. I seek to share with others what I observed and felt in a scenario/space into immersive experiences in order to invite them to consider pressing or often overlooked issues. The impact of light and darkness on our bodies, the way we relate and draw connection/disconnection to a space, as well as the larger implications of such phenomenon may be elusive. As human beings, we are so skilled at adapting to our environment that environmental changes or some may say degradation may not be noticed easily. 

Working with SueKi helped me open up to the exploration of light and darkness and its complexities. SueKi was amazing at interpreting emotive responses into bodily experiences - i.e. through movement and her understanding of how her movement with my visual forms can bring out these qualities. 

Working on a project together, how do you approach fusing the vastly different thought processes related to your mediums of expertise?

SueKi: Don’t think our thought processes are very different here. I guess for me I'm entering into an unfamiliar zone (of immersive exhibitions) so I'm learning as I go. But Zen's approach is conceptual and process-based and so is mine. So I find it relatively easy to work with her. Maybe someone would propose an idea or pose a question that the other hasn't considered, and then we would go together from there.

Zen: We trusted each other and relied on each other's expertise in different aspects of the project. 

We work collaboratively in almost all stages of the project - from the conceptualisation to the installation on-site. While I took care of most of the logistical and design technicalities with my assistant (Renuka) and Pine Atelier Design consultant, SueKi compiled the soundscape for the exhibition using the voice recordings of the participants from the walking workshop in the different cities. We discussed the main themes before she edited the tracks, her way of selecting relevant and impactful segments to put together really helped bring life to the installation. As visitors listen to the selection of voice recordings in specific sections of the installation, they may imagine the spaces which inspired the design of the installation (e.g. dark and narrow alleyways in Bangkok), through their own personal memories. The voices of the participants also added a sense of humanity within the installation which may feel cold and void of emotions without the soundtracks. Installing the works in the space together also aided our understanding of each other's artistic process and challenges. 

Do you share a space? How do you coordinate your schedules?



SueKi: During the research and set-up of the exhibition I stayed at Zen's place (because I'm otherwise based in Berlin). I think for us it was clear that during this period of time, our focus was mainly on the project and we didn't have too many other commitments. So we would start and end work together. (Essentially like how dance productions would usually work for me too). There were maybe two days where I stepped out of setting up the exhibition to work on the movement research.

Zen: I think SueKi has answered this. 

What was your common ground, coming into Phenomenology of Light and Rhythms of the Earth? Did you perhaps discuss how you envisioned the project together?

SueKi: I believe we both work closely with the body, albeit with different entry points. For Zen, I've come to realize how she uses embodied experiences as a focal point in her immersive exhibitions, which makes sense because all senses of the body are involved in order for it to become "immersive".

As a choreographer and a dancer, the body and movement are always my starting point for understanding other aspects of life and art. Especially in improvisation, tuning into the body and "listening" to all these impulses that come from how the body is reacting to or interacting with the surroundings is essential. In a sense I would say both of our practices add to each other's. We had a lot of discussions and sketches to make sure we were on the same page.

Zen: Our common ground was the understanding and belief in embodied experiences and reflexivity in generating knowledge. This has informed all stages of our project and how we have individually worked through our art forms, to express and weld our artistic expressions into a common space - the exhibition. 

Is there an increasing trend towards interdisciplinary art making? What role do you see interdisciplinary connections playing in society at large?

SueKi: I'm not sure if "trend" is the right word. I would also consider traditional art forms, and how many of them actually integrate many mediums together without labelling what it is. It is only later that the division or categorization in the arts became clearer and clearer. And perhaps now we're curious about how these artistic disciplines can come together again, how we can find new methods, and of course technology, technique, and ideas are continually evolving in each discipline so there will always be new ways of creation. I think it's important because interdisciplinary approaches can be more inclusive in terms of audience. The work becomes accessible when there are multiple dimensions of information from which you can draw. Having conversations and exchanges among various disciplines of art can only be an advantage to art as a whole - it is not that you need to include all mediums together at all times, but it certainly helps to "see" the bigger picture and play with more possibilities, and make a choice from there.

Zen: I think it is more like a natural progression than a trend. As mentioned in our earlier response, global issues such as environmental crises are multi-faceted. So we have no choice but to come together if we are dedicated to deepening our understanding and awareness. Hence for a project like ours which explores urban phenomenology, it is a necessity to seek different types of knowledge and disciplinary lenses, and more importantly, to engage everyone to reflect on them so that we can collectively think about what is truly a sustainable development and the kind of life/world we want to live in.

We have no choice but to come together if we are dedicated to deepening our understanding and awareness.

End.