Transmedia Design & Narrative

In the Chinese conception of history, fact and fiction, history and myth, are interwoven in such a way that the reader cannot tell them apart.

Stephen Teo

The East Runs Red is a narrative that began as a book designed from extensive research to investigate modern Chinese history through the lens of Chinese martial arts cinematic legacy. This project allowed me to exercise my skills in academic research and apply them to design in a meaningful way that extended beyond print media.

Throughout its literary history, wuxia (martial arts fiction) was adapted to fit contemporary narratives and propaganda, most notably when it was used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during Mao’s rise to power. Socio-political turmoil swelled during the Chinese Civil War and drove filmmakers from Shanghai, where wuxia was censored and eventually banned, to Hong Kong and Taiwan where they flourished and fearlessly depicted the perseverance of heroes overcoming tyranny, a reflection of the struggles that contributed to the diaspora of Chinese people from their homeland. What began as a routine term project evolved into a love letter to my parents and Taiwanese-American cultural heritage.

The interactive installation is a spatial extension of the book that continues the narrative in The East Runs Red beyond print design. The dual timelines provide visual information of major events in modern China and its juxtaposition to notable wuxia and kung fu film releases provide users to draw causal–correlation connections between the two. To augment the experience, the timelines are equipped with code and a sensor that detects user presence in the space between the projections to allow them to pace their own read.