Our Experimental Endeavor

A scholarly documentary detailing the pedagogical exploration, technological research and development, and digital sampling undertaken in collaboration with Tongji University Kunqu Opera Society.

Everything probably started with the human walk. Artist Petra Johnson, anthropologist and dancer Marceau Chenault, and animation artist Zhang Yinan began by reflecting on walking in the context of urban daily life in Shanghai. Concerning anthropologist Tim Ingold’s publication ‘Culture on the Ground’ (2004), we considered traces of our walks left and their disappearance as path makers due to the resistance of paving and as felt contact with the ground due to the technology modern shoe wear.

In 2013, Professor Yinan Zhang from Limage Studio collaborated with artists from various countries on an experimental performance staged in the historic hutongs near Drum Tower in Beijing. The project aimed to explore the connections between different regions and civilizations, as well as the interplay between audiovisual arts, physical expression, space, and time.

Utilizing 360-degree filming techniques with the environment as the central stage, dancers treat recording instruments as dance partners for improvisational creation. The core objective of this experimental project is to connect spatial surroundings with individual physical expression. From a unique perspective, it aims to present the multidimensional correlations between environmental elements and real-time sensory experiences as well as bodily expression.

In 2017, Professor Yinan Zhang from Limage Studio collaborated with Tony Lin, a new media artist from South Korea, and Professor Dongyong Ji from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music on a performance integrating new media and traditional music.

Closed eyes traditionally make way for open ears. Orchestral musicians drape themselves in black to enhance and grant priority to their sound — appealing to one sense at a time. But at The New School, where tradition is traditionally disrupted, angular notes stack like polygons, and dismantled high hats splash wild blue lightning.

In 2018, members of Limage Studio participated in an experimental workshop focused on dance choreography and physical development at the Kyoto International Dance Festival in Japan. Additionally, they engaged in an improvisational presentation, collaborating with new media artists and dancers. This experience laid crucial groundwork for the studio's subsequent exploration of dancer physicality and choreography.

An innovative and collaborative improvisational creation led by the experienced choreographer Hailong Yang in conjunction with the Limage Studio team. This project is rooted in the conceptual framework of 'MI-Infinity' （糸-三生）， reflecting an experimental exploration of choreographic expression.

An experimental short film in collaboration with renowned dancer Hailong Yang, exploring the dynamics of self-control and external influence on identity.

Grounded in the work 'PINK FANTASY,' this project simulates a real garden environment to explore the potential integration of digital imagination within the context of millennium-old garden culture.

Experimental new media visual short film about the lives, thoughts, and spirits of urban dwellers amid rapid city development. As the pace accelerates, these elements gradually lose control, but this loss of control doesn't mean going off track. An invisible 'centrifugal force' continually drags everyone into repeated cycles within the giant box called the city, making escape impossible.

Using historical materials from the Republican Era of Shanghai as the background, AI tools and generative algorithms were employed to create a parallel Shanghai from 100 years ago.

Experimental short film and music depict a cross-temporal dialogue of a woman at different ages. And the ever-flowing river rushes on, with the passage of time serving as the backdrop for the dialogue between her younger and older selves.