“The Painted Skin”-Atmosphere Storytelling
Nuit Blanche Saskatoon, 2021
Photograph by Jae Kim
Photograph by Jae Kim
The Painted Skin is a short ghost story by Chinese writer Pu Songling written in 1740. The British sinologist, Herbert Giles, first translated it into English in 1880. The Painted Skin is part of the Saskatoon artist collective, Kyuubi Culture’s project: Supernatural • Nocturnal Parables at Nuit Blanche Saskatoon, 2021.
Noh is a classical Japanese theatrical performance that started in the 14th century. Integrating with masks, costumes, and sound props, Noh requires acting and sound with an emotional voice to represent traditional literature with supernatural storytelling.
Supernatural • Nocturnal Parables strive to transform the space we occupies during Nuit Blanche into a preternatural realm of magic and phantom by employ theatrical lighting, sculptural installation, and performance art.
Stories of the supernatural, the odd and the perplexing have been told and enjoyed by folks since the dawn of time. It is a tradition embedded deep within different cultures. For eons, people infuse their tales with a vivid imagination. It is a creative attempt to comprehend the unknown, the arcane, or the acute natural phenomenons that are too arduous to decipher through the sheer means of scientific or logical explanation.We now live in a fast paste world dominated by technology and rapid information sharing, where the ego of humanity seems boundless, yet the reverence for nature is gradually dissipating along with the suspense, thrill, and excitement inspired by the supernatural accounts.