HYPNOSIS for the living

( this version has been uploaded without narration )

The film is about Nguyễn Thị Kim Nhung's childhood chicken who stopped laying eggs after a catastrophic event.

Drawing from the tropes of the wellness industry and hypnotherapy, the work uses the sensory experience of hypnosis as a strategy for PTSD. What are the shared animal-human tensions of trauma and displacement; who is caring for who?

As a therapeutic material used for thousands of years before the domestication of the chicken, jade is a stone instrument that can facilitate both protection and restoration. White jade, best known as 和田玉  'Mutton Fat Jade' in China, and Đá Bạch Ngọc 'White Nephrite Jade' has a cultural role for clearing the mind and assisting with sleep and rest. In Feng Shui practice, white jade is characteristically used to balance energy, to ward off negativity and stabilise a harmonious home environment.

The diagnostic striking of a jade bangle, and the resonant quality of jade objects continues to be used to verify the quality and authenticity of the stone. Sonorous jade is believed to transmit its' crystaline attributes directly into the ear and abosorbed by a receptive body.

The hypnosis cycles between animal-human-mineral can create space for new and traditional forms of backyard self-care and animal husbandry to co-exist.

Story & Narration: Nguyễn Thị Kim Nhung

Animal Handling: Nguyễn Thị Kim Nhung

Percussion: Nguyễn Thị Kim Nhung

Cenematography: James Nguyen & Nguyễn Thị Kim Nhung

Sound editing: James Nguyen

Film editing: James Nguyen