Let us kiss, for our paths are doomed to be apart.
ABOUT YOU ABOUT ME (2022)
Directed and written by Haoran Zeng
Man:
I felt the wind. Warm, wet. Arid, icy. Sharp like a blade. Smelling of rotten bark; salty sea; rock and mud; urban dust; and nothing. The gentle breeze that caressed the body when I cycled, and the strong gust that hit the face when I drove 80 miles an hour.
Woman:
And the rain. Dribbling, pouring. Crashing from the thundering sky, drifting off in a day that shines. Straight, slant; fast, slow; mixed with snow, or hailstone.
Man:
And the curtain of rain, falling off the grey cloud, before the fire engine arrived. Our house was on fire.
Woman:
You still remember. I might have been lying here for too long. All forgotten.
Man:
My time is also coming. The body is dead, and soon will be the brain.
Woman:
What an unexpected final encounter.
Man:
Unexpected indeed. I died in a car accident, and then I met you here.
How do you feel?
Man:
Curiously, some parts of my body can still feel, but it’s more like a physical memory. I can’t explain.
Woman:
What’s that like?
Man:
Like my hands. My palms fondling your cheek. Fingertips stroking the ends of your hair. They felt the rough wooden surface; crisp dry grass; silky fabric. They traveled across your silky skin, held your delicate ankles, played with your tinted lips, your nipples that hardened by my tease, your moist tongue, and private parts.
I start to remember. Tell me more, please. Bring back the memory for me. What’s my name?
Man:
I don’t remember.
Woman:
What’s your name?
Man:
Hmm…I forgot. I could only remember the way you pronounced my name. It starts with a plosive… P something.
Woman:
Was I pretty?
Man:
Very pretty. When I met you for the first time, I thought you were a star falling before my eyes, after your journey across the galaxy.
Woman:
Such a wonder, how men and women meet. Imagine, our ancestors roamed in the primitive currents and went ashore. The earth gave them bone and flesh, the water made their blood and soul. After countless migrations, wars of lords, and the collapse and rebirth of civilizations, there was finally the chance for us to meet.
Then, like the leaves leaving the trees in autumn, and the satellites straying from the orbit, part is part of nature, destined even at the moment we meet. Seasons change, beings grow.
Woman:
Do you remember why we broke up?
Man:
No. The memory decays with my brain, but something sparkles in the ruins of memory.
Woman:
What is it?
Man:
There are thousands of reasons to love you. One of them is seeing your tears welling up in the eyes, on the day of the first snow.
Woman:
I remember now. Everything.
EXHIBITIONS
April 2024, the art video About You About Me will be exhibited in the art gallery Novado Gallery in New Jersey soon.
In March 2024, the art video About You About Me was exhibited in the art gallery The Nancy Warehouse Syracuse.
In March 2024, the art video About You About Me was exhibited in the art gallery The Nancy Warehouse Syracuse.