Chi Art Space in Hong Kong is screening Cheng Ran’s nine-hour film “In Course of the Miraculous” (2015) as part of a solo show of the Chinese contemporary artist’s film and video work.The film, created by the artist in collaboration with the K11 Art Foundation, interweaves the stories of true-life adventures that ended in mysterious circumstances.Through scenes shot in locations from Tibet to Amsterdam, as well as a studio water tank in Beijing, Cheng tells the stories of three expeditions: that of George Mallory, a mountaineer who disappeared while climbing Mount Everest in 1924 and whose body was discovered nearly 90 years later at 650 meters from the top; that of 33 men on a trawler that went missing in 2011 only to turn up later carrying just 11 crewmembers; and that of Bas Jan Ader, a performance artist who during the performance of the 1975 piece that gives the film its name vanished as he sailed a small boat across the Atlantic. In the film, what starts as a factual retelling of events becomes increasingly fictionalized as Cheng delves into the unknowns of these strange tales.Speaking before a screening at the Istanbul Biennial in 2015, Cheng said that his inspiration for the film had been highly acclaimed, lengthy epics such as “Shoah” (1985), Bela Tarr’s “Sátántangó” (1994), and “Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks” (2003), from fellow Chinese filmmaker Bing Wang. “At one point, I developed an obsession with the concept of an ‘adventure’ and had an irrepressible urge to develop, produce, and direct a nine-hour film,” Cheng said, referencing these classics. “Although they cross genres and have been divergently executed, they were all very powerful.”“In Course of the Miraculous” runs through May 1 at Chi Art Space.
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