BO: THE I CHING AND THE FALL OF THE TWIN TOWERS
13-minute video essay
produced, directed, written, shot, edited and narrated by Ann Rose

Bo – Mountain over Earth, or Falling Away
When adornment becomes excessive, beauty comes to an end.
Thus, after Adorning comes Falling Away.
The nature of a mountain is to stand high above the earth.
Here, it lies on the ground, having fallen.

--The Complete I Ching, as translated by Alfred Huang

THE FILM
On the night of September 11, after walking home to Brooklyn over the Williamsburg Bridge— in the middle of the road because all the bridges were still closed to traffic— I pulled The I Ching: Book of Changes from my shelf and dusted it off. I rolled the coins, reflecting upon the harrowing day that had finally seeped into smoggy night, and received the above reading.

Through macroscopic views of New York City snow globes, audio interviews, descriptions of the I Ching, and the music of John Cage, BO: THE I CHING AND THE FALL OF THE TWIN TOWERS combines Chinese cosmology and personal experience to explore the connection between Taoism and the fall of the World Trade Center. BO is a visual, poetic reflection on how a painful event that has scarred our history could change our feelings about our place in the world.

THE I CHING
The I Ching, also called The Book of Changes, is an ancient Chinese book of divination and a source of Confucian and Taoist philosophy. Answers to questions and advice may be obtained by referring to the text accompanying one of 64 hexagrams, selected at random by tossing sticks or coins.

The literal meaning of Ching is Tao, or path. The Tao of I is the Tao of Change, or way of change, and its premise is that the universe evolves in a state of constant flux. According to The I Ching, when situations proceed beyond their extremes, they transform to their alternates. The hexagrams, or readings, can be read as reminders that change is imminent and that we must always be ready to transform and reevaluate our place in the world.

THE MUSIC
Henmar Press and Lovely Music have granted festival, gallery and cultural institution licensing rights to excerpts from John Cage’s MUSIC OF CHANGES, composed entirely based on his I Ching readings.

SCREENINGS
BO has screened at Anthology Film Archives in New York and Artist’s Television Access in San Francisco. More screenings are forthcoming.
To request a screening or offer support, contact: iching@letsmakethings.com