Ayesha Tan-Jones has created a new work for ECLIPSE. Ιt takes the form of a site-specific sci-fi queer Greek opera exploring the story of the ancient Chinese creation myth Pangu.

The notion of Pangu existed before any concept of form, gender, shape, or words were ever created; it was the primordial state of chaos. From this nascent state, fluid freedom could be found in the organic disorder of creation. The project is rendered as an auto-fiction as Tan-Jones evokes their own personal exploration of gender identity into the scenes through a love-story arc that is an ode to their own transient nature and also offers a potential space for the viewer to give up their traditional role models and learnt perceptions through this surreal near-future landscape.

For ECLIPSE, Tan-Jones’s project directs their characters through the scenes that explore their own trans/non binary identity through eco-fetish mythologies and into a fictional pop-idol bootcamp with near apocalyptic aftermaths. Each act has an elemental focus that is used as a vessel to register the effects of gender dysmorphia and gender euphoria. These scenes are accompanied by a spoken-word sonic score mixed with field recordings taken from the Athenian landscape.

The New Elementals, 2021
Video installation
Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale

Concept, Composition, Costumes, Performance, Editing: Ayesha Tan Jones
Make-up Artist: Sophia Kossada / Beehive Artists
Cinematography: Nysos Vassilopoulos
CGI Artist: 00
Executive Producers: Sofia Kalvourtzi, Yannis Iasonidis
Production: Athens Biennale