I have just heard what you have said and I feel something because of it. (2016)
video lecture (30:00)
In this introductory video lecture on discourse analysis, my sister and I animate nonfictional dialogues found in linguistics textbooks, without mention of their origins. In the absence of contextual information, we imagine and enact possible scenarios from which these transcriptions hail. At a meta-level, the video code-switches between academic and theatrical tones, questioning epistemological hierarchies by juxtaposing disciplinary expertise with the embodied knowledge of play. Drawing on an expansive childhood history of making-believe together, my sister and I approach play as a grounding space for instinctive collaboration; a nourishing source of joy; and a revolutionary tool for the collective imagining of what has been or could be.
Performers: Maia Chao & Zoë Chao
Videography: Sue Carroll
Sound: Daniel Stern
Video editing: Maia Chao