18 Stanzas Sung to a Tatar Reed Whistle

This ancient Chinese epic, written by the woman poet Ts’ai Yen 2000 years ago, is told through hand-painted animations created on a Buddha Board, moving ink textures, and pencil drawings to illuminate the evocative desert landscapes of the Tatar camp she writes about. These moving paintings create the environment for Hanne Tierney's Art of Gesture: Chinese and Nomadic robes, burlap tents, aluminum siding, roofing starter shingle rolls and aluminum spears – all installed within a complex network of fine strings – which, when performed, transform into a work of theater.

Conceived, constructed and performed by Hanne Tierney

Music: Jane Wang; Lights: Trevor Brown; Narrator: Rachel Lu; Co-performer: Brooke Van Hensbergen

Performed at FiveMyles, Brooklyn, in September/October 2019