“As of 2023, the world's top 81 billionaires, the rulers of the corporatocracy (formed by multinational financial-capital corporations, military-industrial complexes, and digital and biotech giants) control more wealth than 50% of the world combined and wealth inequality continues to rise today. The empire controls the Internet, thereby manipulating global perceptions through various channels. Influenced by these pervasive control technologies”.
Worn Away is screening at Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival
As you can see, we find ourselves amidst the purest Sci-fi dystopia. Don't we? “Worn Away” unquestionably falls into the category of Unidentified Filmed Objects. Chen Chieh-jen employs a diverse arsenal of tools: choral voice-over, choreography, “slow cinema” tracking shots, and a brilliant, relevant soundtrack to convey his message. Clearly, we're not delving into conventional narrative entertainment here, unmistakably drawing inspiration from Chris Marker's pioneering work with “La Jetée”.
“After humanity enters the new, superficially resplendent dark age, the unemployed and uncreditworthy will have no choice but to apply for the Optimization of Biological Function Assistance Program run by the corporatocracy”
As the introductory black intertitles card suggests, we clearly understand what we're dealing with, but certainly not the manner in which we will. In a luxurious black and white montage intercut with long tracking shots of endless urbanization in a reddish monochrome, Chen describes the impending hell through symbolic scenography. Remarkable is the frightening idea that your societal existence is lost when your personal data are considered useless and therefore disregarded entirely. However, the director goes further in his denunciation speech, and I believe this is where the work gains its uniqueness and value. His proposition is that the only viable future for humans in this nonsensical world is to take refuge in ourselves, in a powerful conclusion underscored by his compelling singing:
“It is become we fear to be excluded from the system, that we accept it envelops us completely. All being have forever been trapped by illusion. One can liberate from illusion.”
We are entitled to see in it a possible escape from the circle of life, a subtle Buddhist approach of modernity.
It's interesting to note that “Worn Away” isn't a youthful rebel scream but a work of maturity. Born in 1960, Chen gained local renown by staging performances on Taipei's streets in the early 1980s. Let's not to forget that Taiwan wasn't this beacon of democracy within the Chinese world, and martial law was only abolished in 1987. Turning to photography and video work in the mid-1990s, he has dug his furrow further in art spaces and stages with, most notably, medium-length films like “Factory” (2003) or “Empire's Borders” (2009). His photography has spread worldwide into the art scene from Tate Modern to Centre Pompidou, especially series depicting tortured, marginalized, or exploited people.
“Worn Away” is an integral part of the larger artistic project known as “Her and Her Children”, which has been partly released in stages under the title of “Introduction and Prologue”. The exhibition features the artist's latest video works, including this one and “In a World Losing Multiple Worlds” (2022), along with photography and sketches.”
