Untitled Film Disinfection Project

In the 30-minute performance, Yang uses chemical processes to manipulate developed Ektachrome film in real time. Wearing full protective gear, she applies precise mixtures of hydrogen chloride and sodium chlorite to the film’s emulsion, triggering rapid transformations that cause images to emerge, distort, and disappear before the audience. The altered film is projected live, turning the photographic process itself into a site of experimentation, disruption, and erasure.

Following the performance, the chemically transformed film remains on view as both a continuous projection and a series of physical artifacts. The resulting installation traces what remains after an image has been subjected to intervention, inviting viewers to consider the instability of recorded information and the traces that persist even after an image has been altered or erased.

Yang’s performance expands SHORT CUTS’ exploration of moving image beyond the traditional screen, bringing together film, performance, installation, and material process in a work that asks what happens when the image itself becomes the site of censorship.

https://lilanyang.studio/ufdp-performance/