rewind
stanford university, spring 2023
video installation
editing (adobe premiere pro) + installation design + setup
story
As someone with a history of depression, I wanted to make a video installation that expresses the murky daily experience of life that comes with it, and the light that can guide us through. Using personal archival footage, from just a few months ago all the way back to when I was just a few months old, this is the story I seek to tell.
Depression can make present experiences feel distant and faraway, while memories, even recent memories, become blurry, unclear, and difficult to recall. However, past memories often shine through crystal clear. Memories of childhood or even just the most recent years before depression came flooding in. And it is these memories of the past that help remind us of who we are, acting as an anchor, something to ground us when we feel most adrift.
overview
video:
made up entirely of archival footage edited together in Adobe Premiere Pro
narratively, videos progressively move back in time chronologically
beginning = experience of life during depression
middle = “bridge” between depressed experience & pure childhood memories
represented with (slowly increasing) lower opacity videos layered on top of one another
ending = my earliest, clearest memories of joy and life, simple and untainted
music:
OPENING SONG: "Greensleeves”
played and recorded on the cello by myself
audio equalization (EQ - low-pass filter) to create distant, drowned audio effect
ENDING SONG: improvised music (based on "What is Love" by Kiesza)
recorded by myself on the cello and Richard Yuan on piano/voice
audio equalization (EQ - low-pass filter: 300 Hz), gradually ramping up to unaltered state
installation:
created installation on Unistrut ceiling grid, accessed with electric scissor lift
created a room with blackout/masking curtains
stretched bedsheet across the top to create a ceiling
projected image upwards (onto ceiling) w/ Epson EX100 Projector, so viewers experience it lying down