Formfields premiered May 23, 2014, at Roulette

Director/Video: Angie Eng
Music: Cheryl Leonard
Tai Chi Chu’an Sifu: Sifu Tzyann Hsu
Tai Chi chu’an practitioners: Dan Avallone, Moise Bottex, Dorene Hebron, Cathy Herman, Rachman Isreal, Mark Kiffin, Tandum Litt, Jono Lukas, David Medina, Michelle Selwa, Rhonda Weir, Anna Yermakova

Formfields visualizes the morphic resonance of human life using video projected on martial arts practitioners. The video acts as the qi of a group of people demonstrating tai-chi ch’uan.   Line and portmanteaus (word combinations) serve as basic qi gestures. When digitally processed, video projections of these phantom traces encircle and radiate from the practitioners. Composer Cheryl Leonard bows, drips, strikes, and brushes amplified natural objects, crafting music out of micro-sounds from water, sand, bone, rock, and wood. Leonard’s musical structures, playing techniques, and composing process are informed by the Wu Xing and the external physical gestures and internal qi movements expressed in Tai Chi practice.