SUGAR IN THE WATER
17.07.26 – 17.08.26
Eine merkwürdige Eigenschaft liegt in den Einstellungen von Lin Chens filmischer Arbeit. In “Sugar in the Water“ vermischt sich das Soziologische mit dem Persönlichen, ohne dass damit eine Lektion oder ein Bekenntnis gemeint wäre. Figuren in Alltagskleidung stehen und schlendern durch kontextlose Räume ‒ die oft vergessenen, denn häufig anonymen Zwischenbereiche einer Stadt. Dieser Film bildet sich durch das reine Ausführen von Bewegungen, die zum Miterleben einladen.
Dazwischen erscheinen die Farben der Stadt und ein Zustand des Verweilens, dessen Ende für die Menschen nicht erkennbar ist.
Nowhen freut sich, den Debütfilm von Lin Chen zeigen zu können. Das Programm wurde kuratiert von Giancarlo M. Sandoval.
Four questions for Lin Chen
„Sugar in the Water“ works with collaborators, how did you meet them and how did they help shape the film?
Collaborators in “Sugar in the Water” are my family members—the woman and the baby in the bus stop scenes —and friends I met at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago—people sitting in the dark room and in other scenes. They were people who were close to me by then. And I believe this was the most important reason that I collaborated with them. During the filming, they provided some locations they preferred to wait (or stay)—the alley under the train track, the bus stop next to the traffic, and the abandoned parking lot—and they were also curious about my intention for this work, which pushed me to ponder it throughout the filming.
Rooms beget waiting. You also show the city as a space of waiting, meandering, looking, was there a definite difference between interior and exterior spaces for you?
For me, there’s no definite difference between interior and exterior spaces. I initiated this work with the exterior scenes—the two bus stop scenes—then filmed additional exterior scenes and one interior scene—the lobby. And my advisor, Daniel Eisenberg, suggested the dark-room scene to highlight the concept of waiting in a staged setting. After that, I was curious about whether people would act differently in their personal space while they were in a liminal condition. So, I began filming my friends and family as they stayed in their individual spaces, while I naturally talked with them.
„Sugar in the Water“ wears its influences on its sleeve. How do you work with influences and how has your work evolved since the filming of Sugar?
I am heavily influenced by Tsai Ming-Liang, Chantal Akerman, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Jonas Mekas. And for “Sugar in the Water,” I drew inspiration from Chantal Akerman’s “From the East” (1993) and “Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels” (1975), which led me to see the beauty and complexity of everyday life. It still inspires my current work, like the latest one about my late Dad, “A Light into A Void,” which uses much of the family movie footage my Dad and I recorded.
Some of your newer projects include archival material and deal with abstraction to an extent, what are some of the next projects you are working on?
Currently, I’m collaborating with my partner Liya, who is a visual artist, on a project about domestic labor and parenting. We are filming the process she uses to dye kitchen waste on fabrics and the outcome. And this summer, I will be traveling to my hometown, Kunming. I’m planning to film some locations my Dad recorded before, as well as places that are important to my childhood memories.
Lin Chen is an accomplished filmmaker with a Master of Fine Arts in Studio (FVNMA) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Lin has a diverse background in film production, having studied under Professor Zhou Chuanji and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Advertisement and Communication from Sichuan University. As a filmmaker, Lin has directed, edited, written, and cinematographed a range of experimental and documentary films, such as Sugar in the Water, Some Spaces, Days and Memories, and From South to North. His work has been showcased in exhibitions and screenings, including the FVNMAS Festival at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago and at mn gallery + studio.
