The Ear, 2009
Inspired to Gogol's short story entitled 'The Nose' from the 'Petersburg tales', Yi Zhou has written her latest short film about the absurd story of the loss of an ear. The ear is actually the key element of the film, shot in RED and partly in 3d animation. Throughout the film, the ear and inner ear as a whole turn themselves into an EarBrige as they get crossed by a bridge.
The EarBridge will actually be part of a public project to be unveiled in 2013 for Baku, Azerbadjian, in which Jean Nouvel and Cai Guo Qiang are also participating.
The film begins with Pharrell cutting vegetables in a white infinite space. Suddenly his ear falls off. Pharrell wraps his head as an explicit homage to Van Gogh. The ear and inner ear as a whole turns itself into an architectural element as an Ear Brige, as it gets crossed by a bridge. Camera simulating the spectator's point of view, it approaches towards the bridge, then the ear, reproducing the same feeling as when we find ourselves in front/under some of the Romain churches, that vertigineous effect that the architectural immensity can arise. Suddenly, we are inside the Ear, long endless stairs facing us. Walking down those infinity stairs simulates a feeling of déja-vu, often felt in a dreamlike sequence contexts: fireworks, glue like drops, a loss of equilibrium and senses with re-adjustment, a tree trunk falls and intercuts our descending path.