Ting Chia Wu

Carman, her love, sex and death

On channel video projection, Essay film, 13 min, 2019

Directed, written, edited by Ting-Chia Wu

Performed by Carman and Stephane

Courtesy of Musée des Antiquités, Réunion des musées métropolitains Rouen Normandie (RMM)

Carman is an avid user of dating apps. The impetus to find a mate drives her into an exhaustive search process. Stephane, still reeling from a past relationship, remains single and grappling with trauma. To overcome this anguish, he has undergone psychological treatment.

Inside the Museum of Antiquities in Rouen, rich collections centered around ‘hunt culture’ (la Chasse) and family graves from the ‘Roman Gaul’ era can be found. Both Carman and Stephane bring their personal challenges into the museum, engaging in conversations with the exhibited ancient ‘artifacts’. Over time, Carman and Stephane begin to merge with the images reciprocally exchanged in the museum’s gaze. Gradually, their personal troubles find a place within the sedimentary memory of antiquity.

Jeannie is burning

Single channel video projection, 10 min, 2017

Directed, written, edited by Ting-Chia Wu

Performed by Lucy Gibbons

Jeannie possesses a female body that is simultaneously strong and fragile. She harbors dreams and grapples with justified grievances within a hostile social structure. After her defeat in combat, she is left scarred. Tragically, her death is symbolized by the immolation often associated with witches. How can we interpret the imagery of a female body protesting against unjust authority figures and enduring discriminatory treatment? From ancient to contemporary times, spanning the West to the East, from England to Iran, how many times does this story repeat itself?

While residing in Rouen, France, I invited Lucy, a female immigrant in France, who must perpetually fight for her dignity as a woman, to reenact this myth. The stage was set on the actual site of Jeanne d’Arc’s immolation in Rouen, where the agony of the dying woman transcends time and space in various forms. The nature of the execution itself reflects the fear, violence, and injustice that afflict the darker aspects of humanity.

“‘Jeannie is burning’” is presented through a single-channel video installation with accompanying text that constructs the fictional biography of Jeannie. Her life story paints the picture of mundane daily existence, which is profoundly altered by torture as she endures an extreme, invisible heat—symbol of being burned at the stake. Trapped and unable to escape, she is subjected to this torment arbitrarily imposed by the absurdity of life. Her struggle for survival resonates with the echoes of both the past and the present.