For further information please download the respective Forum Expanded sheet (PDF).
Action at a Distance is the third chapter in Yin-Ju Chen’s recent practice of addressing the body, governments, and state violence. Like the previous chapters, As Above, So Below (2013–2014) and Liquidation Maps (2014), the three-channel video installation expands and summarizes the metaphysical threads connecting invasive surgeries and instances of state violence.
Using found footage of medical procedures, educational films on quantum physics and news footage of violent confrontations between state forces and citizens, Action at a Distance elaborates the relationship between the macrocosm and the microcosm by exploring the philosophical consequences of quantum entanglement and the principle of correspondence.
Einstein called quantum entanglement “spooky action at a distance.” Action at a Distance and its previous iterations ultimately describe a cohesive and interwoven universe, where science and pseudoscience are merely two complementary routes to understanding human life.
Yin-Ju Chen was born in 1977 in Taipei, Taiwan, where she is also currently based. Her primary medium is video, but her works also include photos, installations, and drawings. In the past few years she has focused on the function of power in human society. Her recent projects also engage in the relations between cosmos and human behavior.
Production: Yin-Ju Chen, Taipei
Screenplay: Yin-Ju Chen
Format: 3-channel video installation, Black/White & Color
Running time: 9 min
Language: Mandarin, English
Photo: Courtesy of Yin-Ju Chen and Chi-Wen Gallery
