“Critical Point Theater Phenomenon” was established in the late 1980s by TIAN Chi-Yuan and others.As the first publicly documented college student with AIDS, TIAN and Critical Point not only launched a new era of experimental theater in Taiwan, but also represented a significant moment in the history of gay culture. In 1993, Critical Point presented its seminal work, “White Water”—a contemporary reinterpretation of “The Flooding of Jinshan Temple” episode in The Legend of the White Snake, which explored themes of homosexuality, love, and political identity; and touched conceptually on the domain of the post-human and anti-anthropocentrism.

On the heels of SU Hui-Yu’s recent creative context of “reshooting” or “revisiting images,” “The White Waters” uses TIAN Chi-Yuan’s classic as leverage in a return to the classic legend. This work will focus on imagery such as flood/fluidity, death, violence, sex, gender, illness/death, post-human, and integration, etc., so as to contemplate the numerous thoughts and fissures in both The Legend of the White Snake and“White Water,” hence enabling the cognitive structures of desire, life, morality, and identity to be laid bare once more.

In form, this work utilizes colors to create structurally distinct segments, and showcases the artist’s many flights of fantasy regarding the above. Technically, “The White Waters” is a multi-channel installation that can be performed on-site through the actions and operations of the performers. The performance on video has been enacted by Instagram sensation JONG Yi-Ling and Popcorn, an active participant in Taipei’s drag community. For the live enactment, seasoned dancer LIU I-Ling of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company has been invited to interpret the coexistence and conflict between Fahai and the White Snake.

Artist/Director: SU Hui-Yu

Choreographer/Dancer: LIU I-Ling

Video Performer: Popcorn, Ling (JONG Yi-Ling)

Music: Blaire KO

■Video Production

Producer: HUANG Ching-Han

1st Assistant Director: LIU Yueh-Ming

Acting Instructor: KUO Meng-Shin

Director of Cinematography: CHEN Kuan-Yu

Production Design: LIAO Yin-Chiao

Costume Design: HUANG Jing-Han

Special Makeup: CHEN Hong-Ru, Janet LIN, Pocky HSU

■Performance Production in Taipei

Video System Design and Programming:

CHANG Huei-Ming

Executive Producer: Fay HUANG, Jerry LIN

Lighting Design: Hsia-Ning WU Nick

Sound Technique and Design:

Taiwan Sound Lab, MENG Chieh-Wen, HUANG Yu-Jie

Rehearsal Assistant: CHEN Ming-Chia

Makeup: Kimberly CHEN

■Performance Production in New York

Organized by Maaike Gouwenberg

Curated in collaboration with PERFORMA 19, with generous

support of the Taiwanese Ministry of Culture and the Taipei Culture

Center in New York.

▐ Performances

2 performances, 35 minutes each

Venue: Art Space I, 1F

Time: 10/18 (Sun.) 14:00, 16:00