In Littleness 雙八時光寶盒
2022 / 8:18 / Color / Sound / 1.33:1 / USA / Original format: Double 8mm Reversal, 16mm, found footage > 35mm / Partially hand processed

The film was shot on a regular 8mm camera and is presented in unslit form as 16mm, a screening format commonly referred to as double 8mm. 

When I first came into contact with this medium, I was deeply attracted by its miniature size. Eight millimeters is a very small space on which to store images. It reminds me of all kinds of things from childhood: ephemeral, wonderful, changeable. Recalling that as a child I spent most of my time with my nanny, I decided to zoom in on daily life, especially trivial household chores. At the same time, the particles and dust of the childhood world are magnified. 

During the filming process, I remembered a question asked by Stan Brakhage: When a film is projected, how many frames does an image need in order to make an impression on human vision? In In Littleness, we are asked to watch four images at a time. Each screen only lasts for a moment. The waves of oncoming impressions submerge the viewer in an open and chaotic world, in which a noisy childhood experience is faintly drawn.

The memories included in the film are not just from my childhood, but also from childhood memories of people close to me. In the end, what In Littleness treasures is the texture of childhoods, overlapping and collective.

這部片使用傳統八釐米（regular 8mm）相機拍攝，並以不切割的方式，即十六釐米呈現，此格式一般被稱為雙八釐米（double 8mm）。

剛開始接觸這媒材的時候，被其迷你的規格所深深吸引。八釐米是一塊非常微小的空間以用來記錄影像，因此使我想起關於童年的林林總總，發生得那麼快，奇妙又多變。想起小時候多半時間是和褓姆在一起的，於是我決定將鏡頭對準生活日常，近攝放大它們，尤其是家務瑣碎，而這樣做的同時，童年世界的顆粒和塵埃也一起被放大了。

在拍攝的過程中想起Stan Brakhage曾問過的一個問題：在膠片放映時，一個影像至少要幾格才能在人類的視覺中留下印象？在此片中，我們被要求一次觀看四格影像，並且每一畫面只停留短短一瞬。一波又一波迎面而來的印象，將觀者淹沒在一個開放而混亂的世界中，勾出當年一段鬧鬧咧咧的童年。

片中所收錄的記憶，不單純只是作者個人的童年，裡頭也有許多關於身邊親人的童年。最終《雙八時光寶盒》所珍藏的是那種重疊的、集合的童年質感。

“Cherlyn Hsing-Hsin Liu opens the Pandora's box of most precious childhood memories in IN LITTLENESS (2022, 8 min), combining two 8mm film strips and presenting them on 16mm. Two consecutive frames are juxtaposed with another pair; the passing of time is measured by ephemeral images woven into a dazzling fabric of light and movements.” —CHICAGO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL, 2023

Notebook

Text in the film: 

I’m the most unlearned man I know.
I don’t know anyone 
Who has learned
How little one knows
As have I.
But that does not belittle
The little I seem to know,
And I have confidence
In the importance of remembering
How little we know
And of the possible significance
Of the fact that we prosper,
And at some times even enjoy
Life in Universe
Despite the designed-in littleness
That we have to “get by with.”

–Excerpt from “How Little I Know” by R. Buckminster Fuller


The 1st child says it is scary.
The 2nd child says it is scary.
The 3rd child says it is scary.
The 4th child says it is scary.
The 5th child says it is scary.
The 6th child says it is scary.
The 7th child says it is scary.
The 8th child says it is scary.
The 9th child says it is scary.
The 10th child says it is scary.

The 11th child says it is scary.
The 12th child says it is scary.
The 13th child says it is scary.

Among 13 children there are scary children and scared children and they are all they are. (It is better that there is no other excuse)

Of course it is fine to say that 1 child is scary.
Of course it is fine to say that 2 children are scary. 

Of course it is fine to say that 2 children are scared.
Of course it is fine to say that 1 child is scared. 

–Excerpt from “Crow’s Eye View, Poem No.1” by Yi Sang