The camera is now my eye. It is only when I stare at the camera, that I am looking you in the eyes. 现在摄像头就是我的眼睛，只有在盯着摄像头时，我的⽬光才能真正与你相交。
Follow @nineteenwaysoflooking on Instagram today, this free virtual opera will be launching 17 November 2020.
nineteen ways of looking brings together composer Jasmin Kent Rodgman, counter tenor Keith Pun, Chinese writer Chen Si’an and choreographer Si Rawlinson to create an Instagram Opera. Responding to the portrayal of and prejudice displayed towards people of Chinese and East Asian heritage in the West during the COVID-19 pandemic, this multidisciplinary work explores nineteen different perspectives that relate to isolation, media and mental health. These will be presented on social media as a moving image or still photography, accompanied by various combinations of music, dance and spoken word. Shot entirely on camera phone, each Instagram ‘square’ will contain a miniature chapter of this semi-linear narrative, unfolding post by post, unravelling in real time for viewers.
London-born British-Malaysian artist and composer Jasmin Kent Rodgman brings together the contemporary classical, electronics and sound art worlds to create powerful soundscapes and musical identities. A regular collaborator across various art forms including dance, word, film and VR, her music explores otherness, memory and plays with a sense of narrative. Activism also has an important place within her music and wider creative work; she is equally passionate about gender and racial equality and empowering others within the industry and beyond.
nineteen ways of looking is co-commissioned by CFCCA and Chinese Arts Now (CAN). It is generously supported by the Arts Council England.
A teaser for nineteen ways of looking:
CREDITS
Composer: Jasmin Kent Rodgman
Librettist: Si’an Chen (translated by Alice Xin Liu)
Director: Jasmin Kent Rodgman
Dramaturg: Jude Christian
Executive Producer: Jasmin Kent Rodgman
Producer: Treacle Holasz
Assistant Producer: Maria Guy
DOP, Photographer & Editor: Ning Zhou
Choreography and Movement: Si Rawlinson
Filmed by Si Rawlinson
Additional Editing (Isolation, We Can Be Quiet) by Si Rawlinson
Countertenor: Keith Pun
Recorded by Keith Pun
Filmed by Keith Pun and Sawako Kayaki
Contralto: Hildur Berglind Arndal
Recorded by Daniel Bøgh Nielsen
Filmed by Hildur Berglind Arndal
We Can Be Quiet: written and performed by Si Rawlinson
Featuring improvisation by David Austin Grey
Pangolin Skin: Part II written and performed by Dan Tsu
Narration: Clare Taylor, Reylon Yount, Jasmin Kent Rodgman
Designer: Anushka Tay
Food Stylist: Premila van Ommen
Musicians: Jasmin Kent Rodgman, Reylon Yount and Beibei Wang
Additional Voice: Mia Foo, Momoko Gill, Ssegawa-Ssekintu Kiwanuka, Oliver Loi-Koe, Tetsuro Miyazaki, Jasmin Kent Rodgman, Peayin Tan
Models: Mia Foo, Angela Hui, Oliver Loi-Koe, Clare Taylor, Dan Tsu, Reylon Yount
Audio Description by Anne Hornsby
Thank you also to everyone who contributed to the project’s research and development over summer 2020. This project would not be where it is today without your invaluable insight and input.