Meet Yizhu Pan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yizhu Pan.

Hi Yizhu, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am a designer and storyteller with a multidisciplinary experience in product design, textile design, and film production design.

My passion for stories helped me discover my way. In a theatrical production, I use visual language to transmit the world from the script to the audience. Nonetheless, I care about people in real life, and I yearn to tell the world their true stories. My eagerness has led me to a profession in interactive design, where I use brand-user relationships to enhance the user experience.

I am interested in people and their actual stories. Thus, my designs were inspired by the emotions and feelings. Establishing the link between design and audience is a recurring theme in my discussion.

The Monologue of N Women exemplifies my goal and skill. As the set designer, I must utilize my knowledge and collaborate with the creative team to tell the story. We interviewed and surveyed over 40 women about the obstacles they experienced in life. These great documents serve as our source of inspiration. I learned from the conversations that “female” refers to more than a gender. It is a social status, definitely. Therefore, I constructed four deconstructive greenhouse frames and analyzed the various dilemmas women encounter with diverse greenhouse frame settings, including merging, rearrangement, and tilting.

In the process of collecting, describing, and presenting the story, we realized that these difficulties are not unique to individuals. It is an issue that affects the majority of contemporary women. They are not alone. Through a blend of drama, dance, original music, and ballads, Monologue of N Women seek to explore the challenges and aspirations of modern women. Importantly, we aim to establish a forum where viewers from diverse cultural backgrounds can publicly discuss and engage. This is also the time when I, as the story’s narrator, believe my value has been realized.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
A fascinating aspect of design is that it is never easy to design. To me, design is the process of identifying and then resolving issues. Each activity requires collaboration for best completion. Monologue of N Woman is a theatrical script for a dramatic piece. The work consists of eight stories based on interviews with more than forty women. Such a diverse setting presented huge design challenges for the stage.

I see figures of women who are suffocated by social prejudice and stereotypes in the greenhouse’s plants. I built four frames based on the plastic covering and the structure of a greenhouse, inspired by my vision. The frames can be placed in many ways to convey diverse meanings. When enclosed, they would create a box that captures women. They might also be arranged as a massive projection screen or a time-traveling tunnel. The background is a screen made from the Weaver Maid’s yarn. Such a curtain-style screen allows sufficient interactivity between performers and settings. The sight of players tied in ropes is a metaphor for real-world dilemmas. Moreover, the characters of the tangle depict trees, which represent a mythical forest.

With a flexible design that can be easily assembled into many forms and interact with actors, I repeatedly addressed the possibility of changing the scenery with the director and the design team, as well as revising the setting arrangement based on the real rehearsal conditions. Finally, my design satisfied the theater’s requirement for a set makeover. Simultaneously, I used visual allegories to analyze and convey contemporary women’s dilemmas, including sexual harassment, incorrect body size judgment, and stereotypical social expectations.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My interdisciplinary experience has enlarged my perspective, and interdisciplinary problem-solving techniques may be applied with agility. It enables me to think creatively and from a distinct perspective when situations converge.

When designing the settings for Odyssey, I desperately wished that the stage would give the impression of floating on the water. Due to our restricted budget and the stage’s mobility, we were unable to purchase a mechanism to raise the stage. At this point, my expertise in production design stepped in. I drew inspiration from the industrial design Chick ‘n’ Egg Chair to create a stage support structure with a grid of intersecting arcs. When players stand on the stage deck supported by my design, they may rely on their own gravity to produce a seesaw-like motion, so achieving my goal of a flowing stage deck in the most cost-effective and practical manner. The technical supporters complimented my design highly.

In addition, my knowledge in user experience design focuses my theatrical design efforts on the audience’s interaction with the story. I will purposefully increase opportunities for interaction. As the stage designer for Monologue of N Woman, I proposed using a real-time bullet screen element. The feature boosted the audience’s interactive experience with the story and made it more immersive by allowing the audience to share their feelings and comments.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
The happiest moment of my childhood was constructing a house with beds, tables, and chairs. I frequently build with my playmates. We would employ tables and chairs as the framework for buildings. Then, we would use bed sheets, blankets, clothing, and various other stuff we could find to surround or divide the room and construct our miniature world. Whenever we play the construction game, we constantly imagine what kind of people, typically a cartoon figure, will occupy this small space. What is the ideal atmosphere of the little space? Should it be comforting? Or should it be a room devoid of emotion? Then, we will select the most suitable decorative material based on its color, pattern, and texture. This is where my vision of story creation and space design begins. As a child, I may have pursued a profession in stage design and interaction design due to my strong interest in storytelling, space, and the emotions evoked by space.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yizhu.art/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yizhu.art/

Image Credits
Yizhu Pan; Ella Bromblin