Writing the Time Lag (2014–ongoing) is an experimental documentary by Taiwanese artist Lee Tzu-Tung. Initiated in 2014, the film blends ethnographic and participatory filmmaking to explore ‘microcosm of Taiwan’s identity dynamics’ reflected through local and transnational grassroots movements. Centering on the experiences of Indigenous activists, the documentary weaves together interviews, home footage, and found media, with Tzu-Tung’s intervention into the documentary form, which features a prominent editing hand as evidenced in the film’s introductory diagram. Since starting this project, the artist has re-edited the documentary approximately every two years, while incorporating the post-production process into the film footage itself. Additionally, the entire film crew consists only female and non-binary workers, emphasizing an inclusive production approach. This self-reflexive method enhances the authorial subjectivity that both propels and grounds this work, and the changing perspectives over time and foregrounding a multi-layered and diachronic approach to documenting the subjectively political and historically personal.
This 75-minute film features dialogue in Mandarin, Amis, and English. Writing the Time Lag is primarily subtitled in English; however, due to its roaming, multilingual subtitles, the film is not further captioned. Viewer discretion is advised, as the content includes depictions of nudity and references to sexual assault.
The screening is open for all students and staff and will be followed by short Q&A session with Lee Tzu Tung.
This workshop has been supported by Charles University Research Centre program No. UNCE/24/SSH/026.
Lee Tzu-Tung is a Taiwanese conceptual artist and curator. Growing up amid Taiwan's multifaceted generational identity struggles, they questions: "How marginalized communities 'queer-up' contemporary hegemonies after generational traumas?" and employs open-source principles, decentralized tools, and participatory practices, inviting audiences to become co-creators and reflect within their art projects. Lee has also been actively involved in Taiwan's political scene. In addition to working in two Taiwan parties, they organized monthly conferences for Café Philo Chicago (2016–2018), participated in the NGO Overseas Taiwanese for Democracy (2016–), and served as an editor for the bilingual political magazine New Bloom (2016). Lee also led and designed visual elements for a 200-person rally against Black Box Education (2016), coordinated a nationwide rally across 40 cities advocating for Marriage Equality (2017), and organized the Indigenous protest Passage of Time (2017).
Lee holds an MS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Their work has been exhibited internationally, including at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, MOCA Taipei (TW), MIT Museum (US), Lisbon University (PT), ArtScape (CA), Transmediale (DE), Philosopher's Stone Gallery (KR), Hyundai Studio (CN), and Asymmetry Foundation (UK), among others.
Film still from the documentary
Photo by Lee Tzu Tung
| Event start | 4 November 2024 at 16:00 |
| Event end | 4 November 2024 at 17:30 |
| Type of event | Course, workshop, seminar |
| Organiser | Denisa Tomková, Ondřej Váša |
| Organiser's contact email | denisa.tomkova@fhs.cuni.cz |
| Venue | Pátkova 2137/5, 182 00 Praha 8 - Libeň (aula) |
| Target group | Academic community |
Charles University
Faculty of Humanities
Pátkova 2137/5
182 00 Praha 8 - Libeň
Czech Republic
