It is always very difficult to describe the work of an artist. Especially since most critiques boil down to a structuralist practice. In which the critic tries to work out commonalities. It is perhaps more interesting to note differences. Or something completely different. Every artist is looking for something in his work. Several films, books, and tracks are always a search for something.
What is Yu Miao looking for in her films?
On the one hand, they are fragments. Perhaps some that escape our attention. Perhaps they are hidden fragments of the realities of our lives. Scenes that we experience but do not perceive. Through the focus, it reveals not only the scenes themselves but also the absurd aspects of our lives. It sounds like a specifically French model, but there is more to it. In “24’58 on the Way to Dulpokanova” it is the dialogues, in “Escape” it is the signs (also a semiotic work in a certain sense). In “The Elusive Joy of Labor” is again about gestures. Perhaps more than that.
At the same time, and I find this very exciting, she is looking for a narrative. For a narrative form of expression. And in each of the films, no matter how different they may be, you see the narrative. Yes, also tension.
Soon we will discuss and describe Yu Miao’s individual films here.
Wait for the article or go to a cinema in your neighbourhood.