Humans always “want” something, yet exhaust themselves from searching for the moment “being needed” at the same time. The two relationships intertwine and dominate our inner soul.
However, we are discussing a third relationship beyond the two, Symbiosis, which is a vocabulary that appears abstruse but ain’t unfamiliar to us. For instance, smartphones and us, they’d die with no battery without humans, and we’d be bored to death without them. Furthermore, as a pet owner, could you ever imagine a world with literally no animals surrounding in?
We firmly believe, from people to people, events to events, substance to substance, there is definitely an extremely powerful link lingering in between. Today, we are acquainted with “Special Effects Makeup Artist”, Zoe Cheng, a girl from Taiwan stepping her footprints to Hollywood movie production industry. Let’s see how many vibrant aesthetics she has subverted and made them seemingly treacherous yet actually enchanting. Moreover, we talk over the overlapping marks she has left, and what Symbiosis indicates from her perspective.
“Out of the blue, if you are coerced to leave our Earth in a spaceship which provides everything that meets your daily basic supplements. However, you can only take 3 things from Earth with you, dimension and quantity not considered, and what would be your choices?”
Zoe: First of all, I would have to bring my family. My entire family. Then I’d say my bicycle and my favorite perfume.
“What leads you to make such decisions?”
Zoe: Family always come as my priority. Even if I can’t ride my single-speed bicycle in the cosmos, with it around me, I always perceive a sense of safety whatsoever. When it comes to perfume, for I am extremely sensitive to smell, I can not endure any bad odor, which always put me in hell while working……lol! (Staring at the fake corpse and mannequins next to her.)
“I’ve particularly noticed that your cordial choice of answer is the perfume, which is not often regarded as optional necessities, can you go a little further and describe why you made such choice without even thinking twice?”
Zoe: My favorite perfume is actually selected by my boyfriend, so I will subconsciously cherish it even more. For me, smell is a source of memory, or you could describe it as a kind of persistence. I like to connect the smell with distinct fragments of life. For example, I’ve got a bottle of perfume that triggers my trip to Paris, another bottle belonging to my weekends in Taipei, and a specific bottle for my daily routine, say, today.
“In fact, these questions just now are the process of reflecting on Symbiotic relationship. As an opinion leader who has certain influence in perpetual workplace, the art-and-culture industry and social media, have you ever observed any interesting Symbiotic phenomena on Earth?”
Zoe: Practically, I have observed quite a lot via work. For example, we need to fully understand each other, from producers to every departments of the film crews, in order to jointly produce a work based on communication and respect, so the work is symbiotic with us for certain. In addition, in my private life, I’ve figured that there are many things that are symbiotic with human beings. Not that I personally want or desperately need a stuff, I would put every effort to receive it. For instance, if I really want to have a cup of coffee, I must remember to bring some cash, and pass by a coffee shop; moreover, my eyes ought yo fall on it……This phenomena is quite intrigueuing and so much plentiful and profound than you could ever imagine.
“In fact, we believe that Symbiosis is a positive relationship that transcends the existence of wanting and needing which belongs to the future. So, do you realize that there is such relationship inside the inner you, and how does the existence make people even better?”
Zoe: I feel that I am Symbiotic with silicone. Without silicone, I would be unable to carry out the corpses or mermaids in the movies, but in fact, it is just a material of special makeup and production. Silicone is not insipid, and its simulation is relatively higher. As mentioned earlier, I am rather sensitive towards smell, and my work orientation strongly requires it. As a result, my Symbiotic existence alongside silicone creates a more diverse tension to the visual presentation of movies. Is it more modernized? More edgy? I think it makes everything more fun.”
“So. in this new era of populism and fragmentation, what’s you thought of sharing selves? And how does sharing help around humans’ Symbiosis?”
Zoe: The most paramount thing for humans is to communicate and share, expressing our thoughts and choosing to understand. People's thoughts are always outnumbered and way too complex, so that the communication between selves and the world is the best method to clarify our souls and minds. For instance, horror, apprehension or excessive expectation, which all are the emotions produced by our brains in advance. If we are willing to think outside the box and share, maybe, I mean maybe, we could avoid some unnecessary negative dimensions? Sharing is a deeper step of cleansing, abandoning and separating our redundant mindsets, and some consciousness needs to be adjusted from a broader perspective.
“Actually, our current products are all developed based on the concept of Symbiosis, such as the ores and desire, the combination of masks and makeup…..Those seemingly are contradictory to each other are practically integrated. Do you agree with this so-called Symbiotic status? Or do you think this status will continue to spread to life in the future?”
Zoe: BEMORAL has brought me a strong sense of mystery from the beginning, whether it’s your product or image film. I fully agree that Symbiosis is mystical issue at this stage. But in the future life, perhaps through the continuous implementation of the essence via the brand, whether it's a consumer or mankind in general, there is always a path for people to realize that Symbiosis is a natural, non-pretentious matter.
“In the end, please use your most comfy method, not limited to words or any media, to define for us what Symbiosis is after today’s interview. In addition, what other ways do you think we can deepen readers' understanding of Symbiosis?”
Zoe: For me, there are two of the strongest Symbiotic patterns. The visible one is the blood and the invisible one is the emotion.
“Who doesn’t have feelings?" Can she be referring to those excessive emotions?” After the interview, we wrecked our brains over and over again.
From Zoe Cheng’s words, we can secretly sense that she is a woman of affection and justice. She is inseparable from her family, her work, and her memories, to a point that she and all the substances connected to them, such as perfume, silicone, blood, have created a rather obvious Symbiotic relationship. Alongside, those invisible and redundant emotions, are her compact existence with reservation and without acknowledgement.
Some people, at first sight, might wonder what makes such a pretty girl to indulge herself in the blacken heads, female bodies crowed by horrendous corpse scars? In between the molding, the coloring, the shaping, and the glueing, she exudes her passion for creation, the resistance to the world, and the transformation of emotions into the visual climax of the work. We've all heard that less is more. For her, more is always more.
Come on! The sadness, anger, joy, sourness that our brain is intertwined by and transmitting……Come on! Only the miscellaneous tastes can stir out the splendid scene of life. To coexist with superfluous emotions and be a smooth/ slick Pisces, what’s wrong about it?