The Quiet Room

Toronto International Film Festival Program Book
2012

The Quiet Room
Liang Yue
2012
19 minutes
3-channel digital video installation with sound

The gentle, ethereal poetics of Liang Yue’s installation work and photography have recently catapulted her to the front ranks of contemporary Chinese artists. She is best known for diaristic portraits of everyday urban life. Now, her practice appears to be shifting towards landscape as a photographic theme and a place of immersion. The Quiet Room was shot across Canada and loops on three screens surrounding the viewer. The work focuses on the textures of snow and the mechanics of condensation. These are coupled with a dramatic soundtrack of carefully recorded winter sounds: the timbre of snowflakes falling, the wind as it passes through an icy tree. The overall effect is one of serenity and stillness. The work sometimes recalls the large-scale drama of German Romantic painting and, at others, the stark solidity of an Ansel Adams photograph. Above all, the film’s images suggest a connected travelogue and locations that might be anticipating the arrival of human beings. It even conjures up a certain patriotic pride in the effortless beauty of Canada itself.
—Noah Cowan