Created in Flash, 2008.
Originally available online, as stand alone player, and as gallery installation.
The Qi Project is an inquiry into the nature of humanity and what it means to be human at this moment in time. Qì is a Chinese word which literally means "air" or "breath." It is considered to be the circulating life force. The research for this project began with interviews: in front of a camcorder, via postcard, email, website and telephone. The questions asked were "What does it mean to be human?" and "What is humanity?"
The Qi Project was conceived in 2005 after nine weeks of study and travel in China. The Project brings together nine years of video people watching, interviews in both written and video form, and welcomes audience participation.
The Qi Project has four areas of engagement. Read. Write. Look. Listen.
"Read" contains written responses. These are displayed randomly, not linearly, so that I, as creator of the project, am not establishing a hierarchy of importance/interest; and so that each visitor to the project receives a different experience of the content.
"Write" invites the visitor to contribute to the project. Contributions are added to the "Read" database.
"Look" contains video of people moving through public spaces. Filmed on three continents.
"Listen" contains the audio portion of video interviews of people discussing humanness and humanity. These are played randomly.