A black & white shot of an empty gym. But not wholly empty, for there is at least one man in it. Dressed only in sports shorts, he is playing with a basketball. He bounces the ball with one hand, then uses both, dribbles, turns and shoots. That is not as easy as it seems because something, someone, is clearly trying to block him. The other person is off screen, but the player dances round him, feints and throws his opponent off-balance so he can get past, so he can venture a shot at the basket. The 'pas de deux' he makes is followed closely. The camera could even be attached to the defender's body. He is almost on top of the player we can see. Although the body and sometimes a bit of the head of the player fills the screen, the camera appears to be mainly following the ball. The viewer takes, as it were, the place of the defender, looking through his eyes, but sitting and following the ball with eyes looking straight ahead. When the player feints to the side and shoots at the basket (off screen) the viewer is 'passed'. The choice for the unusual perspective and the striking camera movement greatly influences the aesthetics of the image and forces the viewer to experience a familiar scene in a
different way.
– Carla Hoekendijk
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Light: Jian Jiang, Music: Yong He
Jia Zhu ° 1963, Beijing (China)
Lives and works in Beijing (China)
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