DESCRIPTION OF PIECE

50% of Presence is an ongoing art project initiated by Ziyun Yma Ma, documenting the journey of exploring positionality and the struggles people face as immigrants. And Pinocchio is one of its chapters. In this chapter, we refer to the story of Pinocchio to discuss truth, lies, and how they could be transformed and constructed. The story unfolds through the topic of the calendar, sense of time, and ancestry. It is co-created by Ziyun Yma Ma, Tamir Lifshitz, Pan Yanhan, and John Wang. Other chapters of 50% of Presence, including Invisible Squat, Stability, and ICE, are showcased at Green Space, La Plaza Cultural in New York.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

​ Yma Ziyun Ma (b. 1999, China) is a multidisciplinary artist working at the intersection of movement, performance art, digital media, and text. Her practice bridges dialogues between untranslatable, often exploring themes of in-betweenness, liminality, and different dimensions of movement. Grounded in everyday aesthetics and the art of conversation, Yma's creative process prioritizes collaboration with the BIPOC immigrant community. Her projects are rooted in collective memories of diaspora, and reflect her belief in the transformative power of embodying unspeakable experiences.