Amy Li
Materiality
BLADED
A memoir to the poetic heart, a skater who wanders, floats, twines their heartstrings to the world. Through the air they breathe, they ignite the stamina that sits inside, waiting to be recalibrated, again and again, through persistence, determination, and the cyclical journey of becoming the best version of themselves. In the skating world, that means to master another skill, throwing in another jump, another spin, or landing a quad.
ENTIRE AUDIO SCRIPT BY VINCENT ZHOU:
When imperfect people seek perfection, they fail.
Perfectionism masquerades in a sweeping white ballgown, and we take its hand, enamored by the illusion of mastery, of doing everything right, of having it all. We trace the steps to Eden interminably, yet we inevitably find ourselves no closer, year after year, until eventually we realize that perfection is a hollow flask sold to the gullible, a waltz with the silence of the cosmos. The pursuit of perfection only reveals our biggest flaws, as nothing can ever compare to the glass cage we impose on ourselves.
Slowly, we come to see that purpose and true beauty lie in the distinctly human essence of trying, failing, bleeding, and learning, the viscerality of expression. Beauty lies in the chipped blade that carves a sweeping edge across the ice, the injured knee that bears the weight of a hundred gold medals, the raw corporeality of the naked heart. This is the fabric our canvas is woven from.
Bladed is a memoir to the poets of this world, those who wander and float and twine their heartstrings with the airwaves they breathe. It’s a memoir to the starry-eyed child who, at one time, didn’t know any better; it’s a memoir to the lost girl who learned to sew using the silent half-truths of the world. And most of all, it’s a love letter to the beauty that she learned to distill from the vapor of imperfection.
SKATER AND VOICEOVER:
LYDIA LIU
ENTIRE AUDIO SCRIPT BY VINCENT ZHOU:
When imperfect people seek perfection, they fail.
Perfectionism masquerades in a sweeping white ballgown, and we take its hand, enamored by the illusion of mastery, of doing everything right, of having it all. We trace the steps to Eden interminably, yet we inevitably find ourselves no closer, year after year, until eventually we realize that perfection is a hollow flask sold to the gullible, a waltz with the silence of the cosmos. The pursuit of perfection only reveals our biggest flaws, as nothing can ever compare to the glass cage we impose on ourselves.
Slowly, we come to see that purpose and true beauty lie in the distinctly human essence of trying, failing, bleeding, and learning, the viscerality of expression. Beauty lies in the chipped blade that carves a sweeping edge across the ice, the injured knee that bears the weight of a hundred gold medals, the raw corporeality of the naked heart. This is the fabric our canvas is woven from.
Bladed is a memoir to the poets of this world, those who wander and float and twine their heartstrings with the airwaves they breathe. It’s a memoir to the starry-eyed child who, at one time, didn’t know any better; it’s a memoir to the lost girl who learned to sew using the silent half-truths of the world. And most of all, it’s a love letter to the beauty that she learned to distill from the vapor of imperfection.
SKATER AND VOICEOVER:
LYDIA LIU
Again and again, they pursue perfection in the form of a waltz, a dance, a singular note of the song. They choose to keep skating, keep stroking against the ice, through shaves of snow they leave off, it rewrites a new story in the pursuit of perfection.
"Slowly, we come to see that purpose and true beauty lie in the distinctly human essence of trying, failing, bleeding, and learning, the viscerality of expression" (Vincent Zhou, 2022 Olympic Gold Medalist)
"Slowly, we come to see that purpose and true beauty lie in the distinctly human essence of trying, failing, bleeding, and learning, the viscerality of expression" (Vincent Zhou, 2022 Olympic Gold Medalist)
