THIS IS BEAUTIFUL

THEATRE / MOVING IMAGE INSTALLATION, Malthouse Helium - 2013

Part film, part feast, part inner-beast. An interrogation-installation on the aesthetics of being human.

“We are temporary shells of skin. Of pigment, of hair, of sweat, folds and scar tissue. But we also inhabit a shadow-body of opinions, of judgements, and dark yearnings for an ideal physical beauty” - Ming-Zhu Hii

Three actors consume a sumptuous meal on stage. They openly cross-examine one another about their bodies, faces and identities. What they love, what they hate, what they wish were different. They objectify and are objectified. While they feast, on screen a cinematic meditation presents the actors’ bodies made newly relevant and strangely beautiful again - mythically abstracted, sensual beasts inspired by folklore and fairytale about physical transformations.

Directed and Created by Ming-Zhu Hii
Assistant Direction Nicholas Coghlan
Cinematography Nicholas Coghlan and Ming-Zhu Hii
Film Post-Production Nicholas Coghlan and Ming-Zhu Hii
Producers Nicholas Coghlan and Ming-Zhu Hii as The Public Studio
Performed by Jing-Xuan Chan, Pier Carthew & Terry Yeboah
Installation & Spatial Design Ming-Zhu Hii and Melanie Liertz
Sound Design Russell Goldsmith with Raya Slavin
Lighting Design Damien McLean
Costume Design Melanie Liertz
Dramaturgy Glyn Roberts
Graphic Design & Concept Matthew Angel
Publicity & Media Management Frances Haysey of Small Talk PRCurated video art programme, “EPILOGUE” by Anabelle Lacroix): Malthouse, Helium 2013.
Still photographs: Ming-Zhu Hii, Nicholas Coghlan, Pier Carthew, Melanie Liertz