The more we read all that beauty the more unreadable we are (with Moved by the Motion)

Date: 2020
Medium: Single-channel HD video, stereo sound, 30 minutes
Courtesy: Commissioned by Lafayette Anticipations. Courtesy of the artist, Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin and Cabinet, London.

Synchronized to the soundtrack of The show is over, which bleeds up from the first floor, The more we read all that beauty the more unreadable we are is a companion to the latter film.

Composed from footage that was produced or gathered during the making of The show is over, and a series of Moved by the Motion performances called Compositions (I-IV), the film brings together disparate materials in a montage that invites the viewer to reflect on different cinematic registers of documentary and fiction. The film includes excerpts from an interview between writers and researchers Edward George and Dhanveer Brar about post-colonial music, a performance for the camera by actor Lena Schwarz interpreting American actress Bette Davis, and a televised interview by writer James Baldwin reminiscing about his origins from the American South. The more we read all that beauty, the more unreadable we are offers a different perspective through the references that entangle Moved by the Motion’s performance practice with Tsang’s own filmmaking practice.