Dian, Paito

Dian, Paito

2001, 16 mm, colour, sound, 7 min.

This is another work made while Schreiner was attending the "1999 Urban Flashes Angle-Asian Workshop, Taipei", and in many respects, it represents a companion to Hwa-Shan District, Taipei.
According to a Confucian fable, Dian was the name of pupil who was asked what he would do if his achievements were at last recognized one day, providing him with the opportunity to fully develop his talents. After a shamefaced pause, he answered with a poetic pastorale, which pleased Confucius. Paito is a section of Taipei where shooting took place and the soundtrack was recorded.
Paito seems to lie on the edge of Taipei. At least, we see mostly hilly countryside stream, with a wind which permits life to take form, and Schreiner remembers, seeing things in a new light through his material: layers of experience, the beauty between experience and memory, taking on meaning in this fracture.
In contrast to the forced urban confinement of Hwa-Shan District, Taipei, Dian, Paito seems somehow at ease, even pleasantly inconsequential: this is less a confrontation with things than allowing them to permeate, which the film turns into an ironic comment on the greater, more solid magnum opus which seems to have been consciously constructed.

Olaf Möller