the othered scene 他人的場景
The Othered Scene
Charcoal drawing by Chin Meng-Hsuan
Soundtrack "Cibotium Taiwanianum Kuo" by Nick Tsai.
2025, 13mins
The Othered Scene starts with a question of language: to whom belong the words when they pass from one person to another through storytelling? Here the words trace back to the plague on Quemoy islands during the immediate post-war period in Taiwan. Two acts of digging lie at the heart of the tales: digging the grave and for the white clay. To uncover the anecdotes related to disease and death, this experimental documentary interweaves a 16mm film travelogue, meditation on archive through charcoal drawing, electronic sound composition, and voice. In assembling the pieces of memories and historical sources, The Othered Scene is part of a work in progress for setting loose the identity of the islanders from any firm historical narrative. The reminiscence of a plague survivor becomes the meeting ground for the fragments from the past of the island –– a field of infinite possibilities for the ritual of narration.
