Chinese Title: 拔摩岛的夜

Commissioned by curators Shen Boliang and Dai Zhanglun in 2017, this work comprises a series of discussions and creations based on the 1940s novel Cold Nights by modern Chinese writer, Ba Jin. A key character in the project is Fengguang, the homewrecker of the family relationship depicted in the novel. In his film, Li Ran attempts to analyse the character of Fengguang in detail. Fengguang is directly depicted less in the book, with most of the descriptions instead coming from the imagination and conjecture of Wang Wenxuan and his family, which are often misplaced and alienating. Other characters in the novel also present different understandings of Fengguang, though all view him in a negative light and in relation to Wang’s divided family. However, this character carries some unusual values, life habits, and a relaxed attitude that differentiate him from the poor intellectual class, and the novel's short and powerful texts unfold his utterance, personality, and emotion. For example, when facing Shusheng, the woman he loves, a subtle romanticism emerges. To create this work, Li Ran used several pieces of alienated materials, including selections from a biblical one-act play that is improvised by stage actors; the aside is embellished by romantic proses and lyrics, portraying a mountain-gathering scene of a heretics group, and its atmosphere subtly turns from humorous to fanatical. The weaving images refer to different kinds of pictures documented from 1950 to 1980, yet all intertwine closely in the video, forming an expression which is complex in its overlapping and multiplicity. This complexity mirrors how Fengguang appears to the artist in the novel.

此件作品是2017年应申伯良与戴章伦两位策展人的策划委任，根据中国近现代作家巴金在1940年代的小说《寒夜》为基础，展开一系列的讨论与创作，并针对小说中的描写的家庭关系中的第三者——奉光为人物参照进行了创作。 依据《寒夜》这部小说，“奉光”是李然在这次创作中极力解析的一个人物，文章中正面描写他的篇幅较少，大部分提及他的时候，都是来自于汪文宣一家的想象和臆测，这些想象时常是错位的，被异化的。小说中的其他人物对他的出现也都有各自不同的理解，在汪文宣一家的家庭矛盾当中，这个人物往往成为他们互相抑制对方的不良信号。而在这个人物身上也显现出一种异样的价值观、生活习惯，以及一种游离在多数苦难的小知识分子阶层之外的轻松，在那些精悍的文段里出现了他的语言、性格和情绪，当面对他爱的“树生”，也透露出了极其微妙的浪漫主义色彩。 这部影像中，李然呈现了几种被异化的素材，其中有让舞台剧演员即兴表演并且变异了的圣经独幕剧选段；用散文式的浪漫与抒情进行矫饰的旁白，其描写了一个异端信仰团体登山聚集，从幽静轻松到狂热极端的场景；影片图像的编织中，结合了50年代至80年代围绕舞台表演的多种图像文献。在影片的叙述里它们时常紧密的交织在一起，也偶尔相互偏移，形成一种多线索重叠的表述。这也是艺术家对“奉光”在小说中呈现形态的一种理解。