Suda Zhao's IDM Senior Project

Video Letters, 2024

Write Back to Me

I am looking forward to hearing back from you.

1. Feel free to write back to me using the stationery and envelope on the table.
When finished, please put it in the mailbox.

2. If you want to write video Letters/Audio Letters/Photo Letters/etc.:
Feel free to email them back to me: sudazyh@gmail.com.

Dimensions:

4ft * 2ft * 4ft

Medium

Six Blank Books, 1024*768 BenQ projector, Stationery and Envelop, Mailbox, Desk, Chair, Black Table Cloth; Found Footage, Found Images, Original Photos, Original Videos.

Project's Themes:

Video Installation, Automatism, Experimentation, Dailiness, Interaction.

Short Description of Research:

"Video Letters" is a video installation consisting of improvised diary-style video letters journaling from March to April 2024. This installation is set in a night study room where I usually journal my thoughts. There are six separate videos projected from the ceiling onto blank books that lay flat on the desk covered with a black tablecloth. Near each book, there are indicators of when they were journaled down and sent out. The audience could write back to me with the stationery and envelope on the table, then put it in the mailbox. They could walk around the desk, experiencing an intimate but fluid experience. Inspired by "Video Letter (1983)," Shana Moulton's "Meta/Physical Therapy," and Jonas Mekas's diary films, this installation is a poetic embodied screen representation with the use of found & original material. Emphasizing spontaneity over detailed plans, it experiments with excitement by embracing the randomness and dailiness of life. It's an experimentation in self-expression through moving images, echoing the nature of unconscious expression. With the use of AI, After Effects, Premiere Pro, and real-time processing techniques, this project deconstructs the aesthetics of writing letters through the process of video creation.

Project Statement and Motivation:

For my senior project at IDM NYU, I chose to create a video installation called 'Video Letters'. This project experiments with video journaling from March 2024 to April 2024, resulting in a compilation of six diary video letters that are projected on blank books on a study desk. Each video letter is improvisational and automatic. Instead of focusing on the process of pre-production, on-site shooting, and post-production with detailed plans, I chose to compose this project with found images and videos, along with my own previous footage and photos, heavily utilizing After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Runway AI (for text-to-voice-over and photos-to-videos).

There are several motivations behind this project, but the main one is that I want to capture some thoughts and feelings that fleetingly occur in everyday life. The environment I set up for the installation---study room---is where I usually spend my free time, also where I typically empty my mind from daily life, contemplate, fantasize about the future, and reminisce about the past. It is also where most of my video letters are created and where my inspiration for them bursts out. I want to send out those letters to the audience amidst this place that inspires them to think, imagine, and maybe create together with me. I was originally inspired by "Video Letter (1983)” by Shuji Terayama & Shuntaro Tanikawa, which is a home video letter produced by two preeminent poets, interlaced with highly abstract philosophizing of their daily life with flamboyant visuals. Their conversation in the video letter, with the poetic but absurd use of cinematography, editing techniques, and narration, inspired me to express myself in a similar form. I was also inspired by Shana Moulton's "Meta/Physical Therapy"---It encourages me to embrace the weirdness of life and find beauty in the absurd. I am also inspired by Jonas Mekas’s home diary films that express the banality and enormity of everyday life, especially in "As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty'' and "He Stands in the Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life." Those artworks inspire me to engage in video journaling---capturing the random thoughts and ideas that pop up in my mind from March 8th to May 9th, and eventually presenting them in a physical form, sending them out to the audience.

The process of creating this project is an experimentation for me, exploring the aspect of spontaneously expressing myself with a free-flowing mind in a video journaling style. This improvisational spontaneity means a lot to me. I find the differences between crafting photography and videos very interesting. From my experience, photography requires spontaneously capturing any moment that excites me, while making videos and films involves generating an idea and transforming it into moving images with a more detailed plan. In this project, I aim to experiment with crafting videos using the method of shooting photos, resulting in unexpected and unplanned outcomes. I think this new way to make videos is akin to writing down my journals in the form of moving images that embrace both "randomness" and "dailiness." I am also excited to hear back from the audience after sending out these video letters, whether during and after the IDM showcase, whether in the same form—video letters, or any other kind of form such as traditional written letters, audio letters, etc.

Video Concept:

The first video letter (March 8th, 2024) is inspired by a dream I had. It reflects how dreams can transform my daily life experience into a surreal and introspective journey.

The second video letter (March 16th, 2024) represents my personal experience while watching films. I am a huge film lover who can watch six to eight films per day if I have free time. The screens within screens separate my flow of thoughts into fragments, as my attention shifts from one film to another. It reflects how films influence my perception of life's contradictions.

The third video letter (March 22nd, 2024) is my reflection on consumerism and materialism. I wonder if the physical possessions and life experiences I acquire define my identity. It explores The Society of the Spectacle theory, suggesting that commodities often dictate the lives of workers and consumers, rather than vice versa, leading individuals to passively engage with a reified spectacle.

The fourth video letter (March 29th, 2024) contains my thoughts on human life, aging, the relationship between self and others, and the vicissitudes presented in moving images. In Chinese, there's a phrase called "浮生若梦", meaning life is like a dream—fleeting and unreal. I attempt to encapsulate a person's entire life within this five-minute video, resonating with the sentiment of "浮生若梦". The butterfly shown at the beginning and end of the video symbolizes the fleeting nature of life, sometimes obscuring our vision of its true meaning.

The fifth video letter (April 4th, 2024) is a journal that delves into memories. The first half of the video explores revisiting the past, only to find memories fragmented and blurred. The second half represents the conclusion of this journey, which is a rewind of video and audio for the first half.

The sixth video letter (April 17th, 2024) is an AI-generated experimental video created using Runway AI (photo to video + text to audio) and Signal Culture apps. The sources, consisting of original photos I captured during my travels over the past few years, depict a journey through the lens of a camera.

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