The Lonely Age
2019 - Film & Video (Film & Video)
11:47 minutes
Connie Zheng
The Lonely Age by Connie Zheng is the first chapter in a trilogy of short experimental films about the complex temporalities of navigating ongoing environmental crises, as seen through the lens of seeds real and imagined. The film is set in a highly toxic and ecologically ravaged near future, in which people begin to hear rumors of seeds that have washed up on the shores of California after escaping from a factory in China. The seeds are rumored to possess curative properties, but they are also said to be sentient. The film toys with the languages of propaganda, dystopian cinema, documentary, and avant-garde film, while examining divergent articulations of hope amidst ecological disaster. Through this mode of informal myth-making, Zheng’s work asks: How can image-makers mobilize the romantic qualities of the apocalyptic narrative in order to inspire climate action? What possibilities exist for humans to engage in cooperative, non-hierarchical behavior, given our conditioning under capitalism? And how do we negotiate the terms of our survival in a way that respects the agency of all living beings while also acknowledging the oppressive structures of colonialism, racism, and xenophobia that have historically shaped our relationship to the “Other”? At its core The Lonely Age is a meta-fictional film whose tension emerges from rumors of hope. Are the seeds real? Are they actually radioactive waste from China? In a sense, it doesn’t matter—the film is about the power of belief and underlying ideologies that underpin hope and skepticism.
Connie Zheng is an artist, writer, filmmaker, and field recordist. Her multidisciplinary practice examines diasporic memory, ecological elegy, and divergent articulations of hope from an environmental justice perspective. Experimenting with topics ranging from cartography to seed exchanges, Zheng’s work pays particular attention to assemblage-based moving image practices and nonlinear temporalities. Her artistic process often begins with creative writing, which she employs as a means to create the worlds and realms that later emerge in her work.
Colors:
Related works sharing similar palette
© » KADIST
Sky Hopinka
2017Dislocation Blues by Sky Hopinka is a portrait of the 2016 Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline in South Dakota...
© » KADIST
Tina Modotti
1930The Italian photographer Tina Modotti is known for her documentation of the mural movement in Mexico...
© » SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Christie’s Hong Kong autumn 2023 auctions fetch US$384 million, see strong demand for Asian masterpieces | South China Morning Post Advertisement Advertisement Art + FOLLOW Get more with my NEWS A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you Learn more “Bad Barber” (2000), by Yoshitomo Nara, sold for HK$51.2 million including fees on November 28 during Christie’s 20th- and 21st-century art evening sale in Hong Kong, part of the auction house’s 2023 autumn sales...
© » ARTNEWS
Michael Stipe on His Collection Exhibition at the Outsider Art Fair – ARTnews.com Skip to main content By Andy Battaglia Plus Icon Andy Battaglia Deputy Editor, ARTnews View All March 2, 2022 11:49am View Gallery 10 Images When Michael Stipe first started engaging with outsider art, he was a young buck learning the curious folkways of Athens, Georgia, while on the cusp of fronting the storied rock band R...
© » STEVE LAMBERT
You Won! - Steve Lambert You Won! - Steve Lambert Steve Lambert has a book coming out Art Works News Writing About Steve Contact Resume Now Newsletter Book Creative Commons BY-NC-SA December 2021 Work Art of Activism Book , Center for Artistic Activism , Prints , risograph 11×17 (approx) 2-color Risograph Print on French Paper Printed at Eureka House in Kingston, NY Illustration from The Art of Activism book Available as a thank you for 2021 donors to the Center for Artistic Activism Share this: Twitter Facebook Related Posts November 07, 2021 Art and Fear of Propaganda Work June 19, 2021 The Art of Activism – Pre-order the Book News October 04, 2020 Talk at frank Gathering Talks September 28, 2020 Living the City Exhibition – Berlin Exhibitions June 07, 2020 Conversation with Avram Finkelstein Talks May 10, 2020 Free the Vaccine for COVID-19 Work May 03, 2020 Teaching artistic activism through infomercials Studio Log January 22, 2020 Frank Gathering 2020 Talks August 25, 2019 508 at Seattle City Hall Work August 18, 2019 Delays Mean Deaths site Work July 27, 2019 Laser cut case for HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sonar Sensor News November 21, 2018 Macedonia Art Action Academy 2018 Work November 05, 2018 Art as Social Action Work October 28, 2018 2018 C4AA Print: The Jedi Mind Trick For Sale October 25, 2018 C4AA at Yale Talks October 22, 2018 C4AA in Macedonia Work April 30, 2018 Cancel the Apocalypse at Re:Publica Talks December 27, 2017 C4AA Workshop in Guinea, West Africa News December 15, 2017 Imagine Winning For Sale November 21, 2017 I HEART SCS Print series Work April 25, 2017 3 Workshops in April/May Talks April 15, 2017 Fight Back Pack #2: Defend U...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
Caring for the Carers: How Malaysian artists working with communities hold space | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints Courtesy of Syarifah Nadhirah August 12, 2021 By Rahmah Pauzi (1,300 words, 5-minute read) I had forgotten how loaded the words “how are you,” or “apa khabar,” can be...
© » KADIST
Vishal Jugdeo, VQUEERAM / EPISODES Screening and presentation, followed by a discussion with artist and scholar, Tina Takemoto The experimental documentary video portrait VQUEERAM (2016–ongoing) is part of a collaborative project initiated by Los Angeles-based artist Vishal Jugdeo with Vikram “Vqueeram” Aditya Sahai, a poet, activist, and teacher based in New Delhi, India...