Untitled (jiang hu) by Shirley Wu

"Untitled (jiang hu)" is an experimental data physicalization where three famous Chinese actresses (Cheng Pei-pei, Michelle Yeoh, and Zhang Ziyi) and their filmographies are represented as mountain ranges embroidered onto translucent fabric. A light shines from the center and out through the fabric to project their filmographies onto walls, and viewers are invited to rotate the light to step through the decades of their work. The fabrication takes inspiration from the Wuxia (Chinese martial arts) films that they have starred in: the mountain ranges are reflected onto the acrylic beneath, much like the mountains reflected onto lakes in the jianghu ("rivers and lakes") scenery that the films are often set in.

The work celebrates the three actresses who, alongside their decades-long career, have each defined a generation of films and also gone on to act in film as mentor figures to younger actresses.