Cycles of Life — Qijun Liu

Cycles of life includes three videos that divide human life into three stages, which are birth, living, and death. Each stage of life is shown allegorically, drawing inspiration from various sources, including cultural, mythological, social, filmic, artistic, and literary influences. Although each video portrays its individual story, the work coheres around the idea that human life is a repeating cycle. Stories that are told in this body of work reflect beyond my personal experience, sharing a world view and a specific cultural identity. The videos are looped, without a clear beginning and end. Rather than providing a clear narrative for its viewer, the work challenges the viewer to unpack and process the story by themselves. The triangular installation set up invites the viewer to walk in and viewer watches the videos inside the space I built, hence, experiencing and living within this life cycle. This body of work intends to create bodily and psychological connections in human viewers, just as I try to do in the content of the videos.

BIRTH Original Running Time: 28 minutes 6 seconds Link: https://youtu.be/_mTDfdPwYWU