Our project aims to evoke human empathy, compassion, and humanitarian concern through the empathetic understanding of experimental animals' experiences by humans, thereby critiquing anthropocentrism.
In mythological narratives, the union between humans and gods symbolizes animism. Whether animals, plants, or deities, all possess an inner nature akin to that of humans, allowing for the transformation of various animals and even deities into human form. Although materiality is not continuous, the continuity of inner nature leads to the erasure of bodily differences. In other words, the similarity in inner nature makes the continuity of transformation possible.
The final form of our project adopted the experimental narrative theater to exhibit our work. In the entirety of the narrative piece, the most crucial element is constructed by a video installation of five screens. Each screen randomly alternates between displaying fragments of animal bodies and human bodies, akin to a series of laboratory monitors laid out, where humans and animals are placed equally as objects, observed and studied.
The complete image constructed by the five screens assembles into a disordered organism, each "image" composed of different biological body fragments bears a striking resemblance to the deities in mythological stories. It becomes a Chimera, a cyborg, a chimera, a fictional creature composed of various animals.
In a sense, the generation of this "image" is like a metaphysical "deification" process. It symbolizes the objectification and helplessness of people by the hierarchy, as well as the arrogance and hubris of humans wanting to "create gods". It also represents disdain and rebellion against power, desire, the Other, patriarchy, and God.
Furthermore, an essential part of our narrative theater is the live improvisational performance. We invited audience members to play the role of experimental subjects, lying on an operating table, their bodies recorded by live cameras and cut into body fragments to be placed and arranged alongside different animals. Two researchers continuously examine, measure, scan, photograph, and record his body. The audience, in becoming experimental subjects, are treated entirely as biological specimens and can see their bodies combined with animals to form various hybrid organisms.
In the creation of roles and setting up scenes, we assigned costume design and prop design to students specializing in those areas. In character creation and scene narration, we strive for increased perfection in the details of character roles and environmental settings to help us narrate more completely.
Finally, we turned this live improvisational performance into a short film. Through cinematic narrative, we recorded and completed our collaborative project.