MeMoSa: The Poetics of Waiting... by Yanqi Chen
Student Artist-in-Residence Yanqi Chen presents: The Poetics of Waiting...
Visuals by Caroline (Xinyi) Niu
Dates: Monday, April 28th | Tuesday, April 29th | Thursday, May 1st
Doors Open 2 PM, Showing 2 - 6 PM
Dates: Friday, May 2nd
Doors Open 6 PM, Q&A 7 - 8 PM, Showing 6 - 10 PM
There are moments when we slip unconsciously into the state of waiting. The present dissolves silently as our gaze stretches hungrily toward that distant nebula where the future resides—its hands cradling wonders, hope, secrets, and traps. Yet while we linger in stillness, anticipation suspends us, and subtle transformations accumulate with each passing second. Water droplets sculpt ancient stone over millennia, buildings sprout skyward like post-rain fungi, and colonies of ants construct grand castles in forgotten corners of the park. Dew rolls off the tip of a slowly unfurling leaf, landing on the soil with a faint thud, while the ceaseless ticking of a neglected clock echoes through the quiet room at night—these delicate shifts slip away in an instant, nearly impossible to grasp.
These metamorphoses unfold through their own sacred rhythm, a slow-motion dance of becoming that we rarely witness. As we fix our attention on final destinations and anticipated moments of arrival, Seeking every possible way to numb ourselves or escape the tedium of waiting, we lose sight of the quiet beauty that exists within transformation itself—the poetry written in motion. Perhaps what we call waiting is actually life unfolding in its most honest form—not a space between events, but a silent conversation between time and matter, writing stories too subtle for impatient eyes to perceive.
Through interactive animation and sound, the installation recreates and exaggerates these metamorphoses within waiting, interweaving moments of imagination, stillness, and imperceptible changes. The artists hope that through this work, the audience can reawaken their sensitivity to seeing and hearing, allowing those subtle changes—so often overlooked in daily life—to reemerge in perception, offering a renewed experience of the world's most delicate and intrinsic flow.
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Installation Hours:
April 28th | April 29th | May 1st: 2 - 6 PM
May 2nd: 6 - 10 PM
The installation begins at 2:00 PM and ends at 6:00 PM each day, except on Friday, May 2nd, when the showing runs from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, with a Q&A from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM.
To visit, please RSVP and contact us via email at movement@barnard.edu at least 24 hours before the event. We will coordinate your entry through the main entrance (3009 Broadway). Visitors with Barnard/Columbia IDs can walk in.
Yanqi Chen is a composer, multimedia artist, and sound engineer pursuing her DMA in Composition at Columbia University. She is passionate about incorporating instruments, electronic sounds, and visual elements into her works. Her music draws inspiration from a variety of sources, including visual art, social issues, nature, and her personal experiences and emotions. Her recent work extends to experimental projects involving installations, virtual reality, and innovative designs in light, motion, and sound spatialization. In the field of computer music, her research focuses on synesthesia, the use of color in music, and the design of interactive music systems. Her contributions have been recognized at various events and competitions, including The ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, IRCAM ManiFeste, NSEME, SEAMUS, and SICPP.