"The Last Blossom"
A Review by Qihan Yan
The Last Blossom 2021 Mengjie Chen
In Natalie Portman's "Annihilation," we are plunged into a world of mesmerizing yet brutal imagination, where the impact of extraterrestrial matter has transformed all life forms in a unique and surreal manner. Within the confines of this afflicted region, the DNA of every living being is ensconced within iridescent bubbles, refracting one another in the space-time continuum, leading to a convoluted, cloned, mutated, and structurally reborn species. This results in surreal amalgamations such as crocodiles with shark-like teeth, skeletal bears bellowing in human voices, and humanoid floral tendrils. All this transformation occurs subtly, over time, as the environment inexorably evolves. Human intruders are not exempt from these transformations either. Their intestines writhe like eels, and over time, their internal organs become fungal and plant-like, spreading and flourishing to form beautiful floral murals on the walls. The thicket becomes the human form, modified by extraterrestrial genetics in the context of space and time.
"Annihilation" Director: Alex Garland (Image source: Internet)
Perhaps the film seeks to express a sense of destruction that leads to rebirth, with all material decay and mutation appearing ornate and surreal. It is an evolution that transcends human history, much like the limitless proliferation of HeLa cells—cancer as an alternative form of immortality. The protagonist, over the course of the film, gradually grows the "ouroboros," a symbol of eternal life.
"Annihilation" Movie Still - Ouroboros Totem (Image source: Internet)
This is why I was compelled to engage with several works by Mengjie Chen from the perspective of "freedom from" and "freedom for." The fragile human body-container-flower, with its pale, bloodless, fossil-like texture, exudes a unique aura. The reconfiguration of scattered organs constitutes a projection that transcends identity; the body's material comes from pulp, moldable into any form, allowing the self to detach from the flesh, much like a stage in the evolutionary process, shedding a shell and reverting from "for oneself" to "free from oneself." This form, from a distance, resembles the brief, timeless moment left behind as life passes by—the ephemeral nature of existence. It becomes a vessel that eternalizes the inherently transitory.
The Last Blossom 2021 Mengjie Chen
In "Life Everlasting," tranquility is presented as an age-old moment left behind by life's passage, akin to a fleeting dream. The traces that form dreams are present in the process, as depicted in "The Last Blossom." If one regards the development of things and the spiraling ascent of history as a political evolution, different from the rising and setting of the sun, generations loving and departing, the sun setting and rising again in its brilliant splendor, then "The Last Blossom" conveys a sense of relentless history devoid of vitality. Mengjie Chen reveals life's "freedom from" is more intense than any "freedom for." A distant view portrays a grand tapestry of life's movements, intertwined with all existence frozen in space, metaphorically dissected. It operates as a historical cycle, an intricate network, the connective tissue of which is akin to a neural network, due to the innate instinct for multiplication and procreation.
Life Everlasting 2020 Mengjie Chen
The Last Blossom 2021 Mengjie Chen(right)
As for the fundamental point of our discussion on the politics of life, it centers on how human nature suddenly appears within a political framework of power relations. The artist suggests that flowers symbolize intimate relationships, subtly inclined toward self-destruction while simultaneously forging solid alliances. Love is akin to the smallest common denominator, a political form intrinsic to life, resisting the manipulations that seek to sever the threads of love. Even if the flower is the last, even if it is fragile, it will continue to replicate and proliferate through self-reproduction and rebirth. What we see within this robust model is the inherent political form of love.
The Last Blossom 2021 Mengjie Chen
In this context, I believe that Mengjie Chen conveys a more precise vision: one may become the last blossom, choosing to be the last blossom, before one comprehends that the essence of life is "ultimately, a blossom."
The Last Blossom 2021 Mengjie Chen
The flowers awaken in the midnight hour,
A dream of daytime faintly lingers on.
The swing still yearns for the evening breeze,
As I, scattered on the ground,
Lost my shadow,
In yet another twilight.
Mingfeng Yu
