Was Here / Now Gone - A film by IS/LAND

Tue, 12/10/2024 - 2:38pm

When: 2024

"Was Here / Now Gone is an experimental film by AAPI performance collective IS/LAND. With some members of IS/LAND having grown up in Ann Arbor during the 1980s, there is a keen sense of how much the city has transformed over the last forty years. With many storefronts and institutions that were cultural anchors (Borders, Schoolkids Records, Stucchi’s, etc.) from the city now gone, Was Here / Now Gone is both an elegy for a time now past but also an exploration of how memory itself can both secure and tether us to the past. 

Monochromatic images from the past twist in our memory and collide with kaleidoscopic footage composed of multiple hours of vibrant imagery documenting while walking through the city—these multilayers of imagery merge into kinetic landscapes of the past's echoes, colliding and merging with the present day.

The idea of what was used to be there and what’s there now, and how we can see it as an appreciation of it being part of our lives, is at the same time a reality of change and how culture changes. Our hope is that this film encourages our audience to live grounded in gratitude for what came before while also embracing the potential of this city’s future." - Filmmakers Chien-An Yuan, Kyunghee Kim, S Jean Lee

Visuals + Sound: Chien-An Yuan
Voice + Poem: Kyunghee Kim
Producer: S Jean Lee
Photos from the AADL's Ann Arbor Historical Signs Collection

visitors of time
by Kyunghee Kim

you lose a little to gain a little, but i want it all

i like to make precious out of something that wasn’t and maybe that’s why i rely on memory-
breathing life into a thing that died, only to bring it back just the way it was
at least the way i remember it 
the way you and i remember it

when does the past end and present begin?

blowing out candles on a cake, ritual that stamps these twelve months
do we wish for the future, reminisce over youth, or apologize
for not making most of what we had

how do we mark a passage of time?

is it language- that was, you are, we will
is it reminders on our blue screens that flashes - on this day
curated square images blurred or clear, accurate or imagined

memory is regret of what could have been
memory is embrace, treasured things, no one can steal away
memory is that moment, it only happens once  

time, a memory’s mother scolding us with confidence and 
tells us like she’s speaking gospel
one day you will look back and say, it was good 
it takes innocence and wisdom to savor before it ends

remember when that used to be
i miss
when i was here

everything changes with time, and time changes everything but time 
isn’t singular, it multiplies into what we give it
today becomes yesterday tomorrow becomes today

pouring magic
legends, fairy tales, ghost stories we end up 
gushing to our friends and children- a secret club- a collector’s club
whispering to each other
i was here, you were here, we were here in this place
on this tender day
lingering over the sunset, eventually bowing to the sunrise
trusting that it was good

trusting it is good. 

Transcript

• [00:01:11] visitors of time
• [00:01:15] you lose a little to gain a little, but i want it all
• [00:01:24] i like to make precious out of something that wasn’t and maybe that’s why i rely on memory-
• [00:01:35] breathing life into a thing that died, only to bring it back just the way it was
• [00:01:45] at least the way i remember it 
• [00:01:50] the way you and i remember it
• [00:02:01] when does the past end and present begin?
• [00:02:09] blowing out candles on a cake, ritual that stamps these twelve months
• [00:02:18] do we wish for the future, reminisce over youth, or apologize
• [00:02:25] for not making most of what we had
• [00:02:35] how do we mark a passage of time?
• [00:02:42] is it language- that was, you are, we will
• [00:02:55] is it reminders on our blue screens that flashes - on this day
• [00:03:04] curated square images blurred or clear, accurate or imagined
• [00:03:16] memory is regret of what could have been
• [00:03:24] memory is embrace, treasured things, no one can steal away
• [00:03:33] memory is that moment, it only happens once
• [00:03:45] time, a memory’s mother scolding us with confidence and 
• [00:03:50] tells us like she’s speaking gospel
• [00:03:55] one day you will look back and say, it was good 
• [00:04:05] it takes innocence and wisdom to savor before it ends
• [00:04:17] remember when that used to be
• [00:04:22] i miss
• [00:04:27] when i was here
• [00:04:37] everything changes with time, and time changes everything but time 
• [00:04:44] isn’t singular, it multiplies into what we give it
• [00:04:51] today becomes yesterday tomorrow becomes today
• [00:05:00] pouring magic
• [00:05:01] legends, fairy tales, ghost stories we end up 
• [00:05:06] gushing to our friends and children- a secret club- a collector’s club
• [00:05:14] whispering to each other
• [00:05:20] i was here, you were here, we were here in this place
• [00:05:31] on this tender day
• [00:05:34] lingering over the sunset, eventually bowing to the sunrise
• [00:05:41] trusting that it was good
• [00:05:48] trusting it is good.