Statement: Contemplation of Rest is a collaborative project that was originally performed at the Weisman Art Museum.  The unique collaboration between Yuko Taniguchi (poet), and Peng Wu (visual artist) invited us to contemplate on how we rest and sleep through poetry. This film was created in the collaboration with Laura Vail (filmmaker) to capture this contemplation, allowing participants to reflect on their bodies and minds through Yuko’s poems.  

Collaborating Artist: 

Laura Vail (Film) Laura Vail is a writer and filmmaker in St. Paul, MN. She lives and works at the intersection of science and art, drawing on her background in neuroscience and photography. As a professional in the mental health field, she is dedicated to exploring the restorative nature of art and how imagination creates space for hope. Her films, like visual poems, elicit deep emotional responses through aesthetic experience. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

Peng Wu (Title Animation, Daydream Chapel) Peng wu is a design activist and an interdisciplinary artist dedicated to creating socially engaged art in public space. His work combines the power of design thinking with contemporary art strategies to address various urgent social issues including immigration, modern medicine and health, environmental sustainability. He previously worked for the University of Minnesota as an independent researcher and artist in residency at Weisman Art Museum on the art of sleep. Since the residency, multiple collaborations with the Medical School of UMN have been funded with the goal of bringing humanity into the medical research community to envision the hospital of future as a place for healing. 2019-2020, he is involved in designing the the Second National Symposium of Habitability to investigate what makes a place feel like home – in a different country or on a different planet.  He holds two master’s degrees in product design and sculpture and bachelor’s degree in physics.  He co-founded CarryOn Homes – the artists collective investigating the experience of global migration. Since 2017, CarryOn Homes has created large public art commision through Creative City Challenge program, and in close collaboration with Minneapolis Institute of Art, Walker Art Center, Weisman Art Museum for various projects.