top of page

The elephant in the room

2025
China

Embodying “the elephant in the room,” charting the journey from collective silence to a solitary, costly awakening.

The elephant in the room
pexels-ian-panelo-7532049.jpg
pexels-karola-g-6634154.jpg

CREDITS

Created by

​—

Jiayue Yu

Produced by WHITEMIST Studio

An experimental dance film inspired by sociologist Eviatar Zerubavel’s book The Elephant in the Room, confronting issues that are “obvious yet collectively avoided.” Through an interdisciplinary fusion of contemporary dance, theater, performance, and installation art, the film transforms abstract sociological concepts into embodied artistic experience. The work features 27 amateur dancers and 20 professional dancers, with amateurs accounting for 57.45%—a contemporary art practice centered on diverse bodies.

Narrative Overview
The film explores the enduring tension between the collective and the individual.
At the collective level: silence, endurance, confusion, self-deception, and avoidance
At the individual level: conformity, obsession, neglect, and psychological hypnosis
At the moment of awakening: the inevitability of cost and isolation
All ultimately point toward an existential destination—illusion—
and finally, an exit: “Leave the room. Return to the open wilderness.”

SELECTED STILLS

Interested in presenting or learning more about

?

The elephant in the room

INQUIRE ABOUT THIS WORK

Get in touch for availability screening or collaboration.

DISCUSS PRESENTATION

Explore exhibitions, publications.

or presentations.

SHARE THIS WORK

Share this page with collaborators or colleagues.

-

Works from Shuborna Islam

2025

5:40

House

2025

-

Magnetic Glow

2026

5:32

ADRASTEIA

2025

2:56

Ꮟ ᎠᏂᏬᏂ They Are Still Talking

2022

19:21

Chalamela

2024

9:54

Echoes of the walls

2025

8:30

A Heavy Parting

2025

5:03

Flowing Boundaries

2025

-

Sculpture on Loan

2026

6:26

Nithyakalyani

2025

05:05

Amours perdues : la douleur

2025

8:19

When the Swan Sings (Part 2)

2026

3:00

Vieni (Come)

2019

-

Sculpture variation (original)

2026

5:42

Healing Shadows

2026

3:41

Nightmare

2025

8:43

When the Swan Sings (Part 1)

2026

2:55

Works by Tanya Shin

2025

-

Sculpture on Loan

2026

EXPLORE CATEGORIES

Composition
Film
Dance
Digital Art
Culture
Art
bottom of page