Thirty children watch a woman struggling to thread a needle

by Morag Colquhoun, Artes Mundi Live Guide

 

They watch her trembling fingers for many long minutes. They watch the thread miss and miss again. When the thread finally goes through the eye of the needle, they gasp with relief.

Young people have short attention spans? 

These children are fully absorbed in Chen Chieh-jen's film of a closed down factory in Taiwan. The film shows women - former workers of the factory - silently sewing and endlessly cleaning chairs. The film is slow motion. The camera pans over the deserted factory floor. The women look tired and rest their heads on the tables infront of them with coats over their heads.

So why do the children find this film so absorbing? 

Two separate groups of children watched this film and were then asked why they thought an artist would make a film rather than paint a picture. In each group, the reply was identical: 

'Because it makes you think!'