LISA SHEN
ALTERNATE PLACES I COULD HAVE BEEN BORN
2022
A tall vertical poster divided into seven equally-sized horizontal sections. The segments alternate between city skylines, taken from a distance, and black backgrounds with bold white text. From top to bottom, the cities are: Toronto, San Diego, Vancouver, and Shanghai. The text segments read: “ALTERNATE PLACES”, “I COULD HAVE”, and “BEEN BORN”.
A video consisting of short visual clips overlaying a narrated spoken word poem. The introduction is a time-lapse of the Toronto skyline over Lake Ontario, followed by scenes from downtown Toronto. The video cuts to a black background with bold white text saying “ALTERNATE PLACES I COULD HAVE BEEN BORN”. Next, there are video clips from various cities — Beijing, Boston, Hangzhou, San Diego, and Vancouver — timed to match the locations referenced in the poem. Each clip is shown for a few seconds. When the narrator says “nowhere”, the video cuts to a black screen. There is more footage that matches the narration, such as drops from a medical IV, a smoking cigarette, and rain falling onto pavement. As the narrator says “nothing”, the video cuts to a black screen once more. Credits appear, stating that the poem was written after “All the places I could have been born” by Robyn Kaur Sidhu.
ARTIST | Alex Robinson
Lisa Shen
Instagram: @itslisashen
Lisa Shen is a Chinese-Canadian writer and spoken word artist based in Toronto. Her work centers on gender-based violence and disability rights. Lisa was the first place winner of the 2021 Mississauga Poetry Slam, and a Speaker at the TEDx McMasterU 2022 conference. Her work has also been featured at several arts festivals, including the JAYU Human Rights Film Festival and Humainologie Short Story Festival. As a passionate teacher, Lisa has created and instructed debate classes for youth. She is passionate about bringing the joys of spoken word into classrooms through workshops and showcases.
Email: lisa.w.shen@gmail.com