Yi Zhou: The Earbridge and The Greatness

Yi Zhou, an artist recognized for her large-scale multimedia installations that combine film, digital animation, photography, sculpture, painting, drawing and contemporary music, made the short films The Ear in 2009 and The Greatness, a sequel to The Ear in 2010.

The Ear
Starring Pharrell Williams, the recording artist and producer, this short film was inspired by Nikolai Gogol’s short story “The Nose”. The film’s first sequence begins with a man cutting vegetables, and ends with his severed ear on the counter. The film shifts to a transcendental journey through a series of complex, computer-generated spaces. This inner world of organic architectures leads to a climax when the Ear is transformed, becoming part of the structure of The Earbridge. Like Gogol’s “The Nose”, this film has both Freudian implications and suggests the ego detached from its customary status, here achieving a place in an effort larger than itself.

The Ear features music by Ennio Morricone, an Academy Award winning composer. The costumes were designed by Rick Owens and BBC Ice cream.