TITLE
Run run run. Hand in hand. Run into and run with one another. Created by Kai of the RUN! RUN! RUN! International Body for Research June 2016 UK. Dedicated to Europe and the world. 02:15
RUNDOWN
Amidst a volatile and hostile reality, (how) could we — as image-makers, researchers and ‘ordinary citizens’ –- create poetic/political/playful artistic interventions to celebrate difference?
This film highlights an example, a pilot experiment run in a festival in France. Inspired by how blind athletes and their guides run, Hand-in-Hand invited friends/strangers to share their dreams while running tethered together with a specially-designed ribbon. Running thus became a methodology/metaphor to subvert or ‘détourn’ antagonism into something creative – a ‘productive antagonism’.
Yet, more than a documentary, the film enacts the breathlessness of a sprint — sensations and meanings run/fly past. It walks the talk too, by performing the inspired/inspiring possibilities of running into difference — hence the jump cuts, wordplay and mad montage/sampling of disparate footage/sounds/sights. It also invites us to re-imagine other gestures/‘movements’ to mock/knock the toxic status quo.
So, run run run, hand-in-hand. It’s ‘harder’, but as co-runners we can create yet ‘stronger connections’.
CREDITS
Director, researcher, editor: Dr Kai Syng Tan FRSA
Sound director, composer: Philip Tan/Philbeat philbeat.com
Interviewer, interpreter, assistant: Richard Wright
Talents: Florent Cholat, Gilles Dubois, Taoufik Trouissi
Translation: Florent Cholat, Dave Maliki, Mary Thorne
Support: Leeds College of Art
Additional footage: ANTI Festival (Pekka Mäkinen, Kim Saarinen), Robin Kang, Kleopatra Korai, Michael Larsson, Hayley Newman, Alan Latham, Annabeth Robinson, Dan Robinson, Philip Tan, Arleen Teo, Richard Wright, Yan Tuck Hong (Tuckys)
Citations from: a range of examples of running as a creative/critical process by RUN! RUN! RUN! since 2014, as well as:
ABC News. 2016. Orlando Shooting Kills Over 50 at Gay Nightclub. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKKRyoVpfGQ.
Attenborough, David. 2002. The Life of Mammals. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2002/10_october/31/progs6-10_mammalspack.pdf.
BBC. 2016. “EU Referendum: The Great Debate.” BBC iPlayer. June 24. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07hk5h6/eu-referendum-the-great-debate.
BBC News. 2016. “BBC News at Ten, 24/06/2016.” BBC iPlayer. June 24. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07hj6hm/bbc-news-at-ten-27062016.
Breaking News. 2016. EU Referendum: “Shame on You Boris” Crowds Yell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hydUvY3mLUM.
CCTV. 2016. Thousands of Runners Participate in Annual Palestine Marathon – YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23IjzlsvxOs.
Crites, James A. 1995. “CHINESE FOOT BINDING.” http://www.angelfire.com/ca/beekeeper/foot.html.
Debord, Guy. 1955. Guy Debord 1957: Psychogeographic Guide of Paris. http://imaginarymuseum.org/LPG/Mapsitu1.htm.
Fleschner, Kristen, and Michelle Wade. 2016. Running Blind by Kristin Fleschner and Michelle Wade. Accessed June 30. http://www.monumentalmarathon.com/stories/11-Running-Blind.php.
Forrest, Rob. 2010. Martin Creed – Work no.850 | Runners in the Tate | Rob.forrest | Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/rob-forrest/5035385981/.
Frey, Katherine. 2014. Visually Impaired Athlete Prepares for Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii. http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20140728/entlife/140728954/.
Hartley, Laura. 2016. Where Have the English Defence League Been in the Midlands? – Coventry Telegraph. http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/english-defence-league-been-midlands-11240124.
India Today. 2016. Ai Weiwei Poses as Dead Syrian Child on Beach. http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/01/arts/ai-weiwei-alan-kurdi-syria/index.html.
Lacey, By Martha De. 2012. “It”s like a Three-Legged Race but with Hands’: Blind Sprinter Libby Clegg Overjoyed That Her Guide Is Finally Eligible for a Medal Too. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2195087/London-Paralympics-2012-Libby-Clegg-blind-sprinter-running-guide-Mikail-Huggins.html.
Lam, Paul. 2011. Tai Chi for Beginners, 8 Lessons with Dr Paul Lam – First Lesson below – YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIOHGrYCEJ4.
Le Dauphiné Libéré. 2016. Grenoble : Record de Participation à La Fête Des Tuiles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwee4BppIzE.
London Athletics. 2016. England Athletics and British Blind Sport Guide Runner | London Athletics. http://www.londonathletics.org/Blind-Sport-Guide-Runner.
Magazin Hazarder. 2015. Femen. http://hazardermagazin.rs/tako-lepe-i-nista-vise/.
Mail, By Hugo Gye, Emma Glanfield for MailOnline, Chris Brooke and Sian Boyle for the Daily. 2016. “Asylum Seekers ‘Forced to Live in Houses with Red Doors.’” Mail Online, January 20. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3407885/Asylum-seekers-forced-live-houses-red-doors.html.
Muybridge, Eadweard. 1887. “A Little Girl Running.jpg.” https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/A_little_girl_running._Photogravure_after_Eadweard_Muybridge_Wellcome_V0048721.jpg.
Nguyen-Hatsushiba, Jun. 2009. Breathing Is Free: 12,756.3. http://asuartmuseum.asu.edu/2009/breathingisfree/index.php.
National Turk. 2013. Istanbul Protests:Standing Man on Taksim Square Silent Scream against All Cruelty, Video / Turkey News | NationalTurk. Photography. http://www.nationalturk.com/en/istanbul-protestsstanding-man-on-taksim-square-silent-scream-against-all-cruelty-video-turkey-news-39054/.
Reyes, Ruben. 2009. Tarahumara Woman Running with a Baby. https://www.flickr.com/photos/rreyes-2010/3747506136/.
Stewart, Heather. 2016. “Palace Complains to Watchdog over Sun’s ‘Queen Backs Brexit’ Claims.” The Guardian, March 9, sec. Media. http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/mar/09/palace-sun-queen-backs-brexit-ipso.
Taylor, Diane. 2016. “Asylum Seekers Made to Wear Coloured Wristbands in Cardiff.” The Guardian, January 24, sec. UK news. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/24/asylum-seekers-made-to-wear-coloured-wristbands-cardiff.
Tykwer, Tom. 1999. Run Lola Run. Sony Pictures.