Autograft

Dance, film, and installation.

In Autograft, Taryn Cheng navigates her identity and practice as a dancer, as she recovers from a torn ACL.

In injury and recovery, the body and mind must renegotiate their relationship to one another. In dance, this holds high stakes, as oftentimes the body moves in response to music.

However, in Autograft the music is created live, controlled by Taryn’s movements. Outfitting her leg brace with a motion-sensor, Taryn builds a sonic world. As her body gradually heals and regains in initial agency, Taryn claims new agency in a renegotiation of how music and movement have functioned previously in her practice.

Autograft performance
Photo by Deen Babakhyi (@deen.babakhyi)

The music was developed collaboratively between myself and Taryn. Her leg brace was outfitted with a MUGIC motion sensor, which controlled synthesizers, samples, and audio effects programmed in Ableton Live and Max MSP.

See autograft at TRYST August 7-9, 2026.

Trailer

  • Taryn Cheng - Director, Producer
  • Jucel Andrin - Video
  • Brandon Woo Snyder - Sound, Music, Brace-Motion Sensor Programming
  • Michelle Chun - Curator
  • Yuna Jo - Photo