The Fourth Dimension (Trinh T. Minh-ha, 2001, 87 min.) and water sleep II Akaike river under Xizang Road (Su Yu Hsin, 2019, 10 min.)

Curated by Summer 2021 MDC intern, Alessandra Rizzo.

City Studies presents two striking video essays, The Fourth Dimension (Trinh T. Minh-ha, 2001, 87 min.) and water sleep II Akaike river under Xizang Road (Su Yu Hsin, 2019, 10 min.) in which city landscapes visualize and map out broader observations about the societies they contain.

In the Japanese cities featured in Trinh T. Minh-ha’s  The Fourth Dimension and the city of Taipei in Su Yu Hsin’s water sleep II Akaike river under Xizang Road , viewers are offered the opportunity to traverse expansive timelines. Through doing so, we come to understand how industrialization erases outmoded processes and sheds light on the past.

For both artists, observing these changes raises questions of time and perception. Trinh T. Min-ha  documents her visit to Japan while reflecting on themes of tradition, belonging, and otherness. Su Yu Hsin, who scrutinizes colonial maps of her home country, reexamines what is “supposed” to be familiar. In both films, overlays, still frames, graphics, and other stylistic devices help to visualize what the lens alone cannot capture.