Born in 1981, Cheng Ran currently lives in Hangzhou. The graduate of China Academy of Art Hangzhou and former assistant to Yang Fudong is one of the most significant Chinese new media artists. Exhibtions since 2012 at New Museum, New York; K11 Art Foundation, Hongkong; Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing; Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai et al. Participation in numerous film festivals and biennales, such as the 14th Istanbul Biennal and the 5th Auckland Triennale.
Selected films: Before falling asleep (2013), Lostalgia (2012, KdK 2013)
Lostalghia
(CHN 2012, 12 Min. 13 Sek.)
In Lostalghia Andrei Tarkovsky’s ‘Nostalghia’ is re-edited to create a circular narrative that concludes with the replacement of ‘N’ of nostalgia with the letter ‘L’. Cheng´s interest in the cinematic, poetic and mysterious intertwine in the film alluding to the repetitions that occur as life is played out.
In Course of the Miraculous
(CHN 2016, HD, 197’, English-Chinese)
Cast: Guan Zeqiang, Winston Youri Matthijs, Lin Tiejing
German Premiere
What happened to the British mountaineer George Mallory, whose trace was lost forever on Mount Everest in 1924? What happened to the Dutch artist Bas Jan Ader, who disappeared on an Atlantic crossing he undertook in 1975 as part of the performance In Search of the Miraculous? And why did only a third of the original crew of the Chinese fishing trawler Lu Rong Yu 2682 return in 2011? In a hypnotic narrative inspired by fables and mythic literature, with long shots and fascinating images, Cheng Ran weaves together three true stories of disappearance. He dares the paradoxical and cinematic attempt to explain the inexplicable and unimaginable essence of these fates.
