Kun-Yang shares some insights from his project diary:
At the start of this process, we did not talk about the word “healing” but as this process has unfolded, I realize that I am in the process of healing-- my physical body still hurts, I still cannot see well, I still need to visit a chiropractor every week, and I still need observe my tumor frequently through getting MRI’s, but I have rediscovered the importance of TIME and SPACE as well as the gift to be able to continue to move my body with other bodies… This has been a luminous opportunity and I realize that now, finally and perhaps counterintuitively, I was totally free during the process of exploring with Gus and Pallabi.
The biggest transformation that occurred during this process involved a period where I started to challenge my thoughts, feelings, and behaviors around who I was before this project and now who I am after. While I was still in the early stages of understanding of how I feel now, I’ve learned that it was time to let go of certain parts of my old identity, specifically, my professor’s hat. I have submitted my resignation and it has helped me feel FREE as a part of this process and also generally I’ve felt an impact on my creative process too.
I’ve learned that I need to give myself more time— For me, as a mentor, teacher, director all these years, this project allowed me not to be a teacher, or in a director's role… I’m just a mover who is just exploring and doing…
I’ve also discovered that I do not work well alone when I am trying to explore something new, I need others in the space with me who bring different energy, different ideas, which connects to my constant investigation of the individual and the collective— I can find my self within a collective, but that collective needs to be present.
During the course of the Where is my B-O-D-Y project, I developed a new program with my ensemble that was indirectly influenced by this project:
Xing- A new site specific work that I conceived. It consists of two different groups of artists performing certain tasks from opposite sides of a park and performing at the same time in different locations. Then, the final 20 minutes include all of the artists meeting in the middle of the park with audience. This work suggest of the theme of letting go of the control since I have no way to observe and control what one group is doing. Also, the audience has the power to choose watch from the beginning of the park or the end of the park but ultimately, everyone ends up in the middle.
Support for the research and development of WHERE IS MY B-O-D-Y has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.