Playing in a Circle

Stop Motion 4 seconds, showing Performance at Fishermans Garden Suzhou

Playing in a Circle
Playing in a Circle is a meditative exploration of space, time, and cultural symbolism, merging
performance, architecture, and digital media into a contemplative loop. The 4-second stopmotion video, rendered in stark black and white, documents a series of yoga poses performed
within the circular frame of a traditional Suzhou moon gate—an architectural threshold in the
Fisherman’s Garden. The body acts as both a measuring tool and a temporal marker, inhabiting
the gate’s liminal space—neither fully inside nor outside, but suspended in a perpetual "now."
The work reinterprets traditional Chinese architectural symbolism through contemporary
performative practice, creating a dialogue between Eastern philosophy and global mindfulness
culture. The moon gate, a vertical circle representing infinity, mirrors the cyclical nature of the
video’s looped movement, while yogic asanas—themselves thresholds between states of being—
echo the gate’s function as a transitional space. The minimalist aesthetic strips away distraction,
emphasizing the interplay of form and void (yin and yang), and the stop-motion technique
transforms fleeting gestures into a hypnotic, timeless ritual.
By situating the performance within a UNESCO-protected classical garden, the piece bridges
heritage and modernity, inviting reflection on how built environments shape human movement
and meditation. It proposes architecture not just as static form, but as an active participant in
bodily awareness—a concept increasingly relevant in today’s fast-paced, digitally saturated world.
The project also subtly challenges cultural boundaries, presenting yoga (an Indian practice) within
a Chinese architectural context, suggesting shared human impulses toward harmony and cyclical
renewal.
Playing in a Circle is a poetic inquiry into how spaces hold time, and how rituals—whether
ancient or contemporary—can collapse the past and present into a single, resonant moment