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From Latin ‘fear of empty space’
This non-narrative film explores geological self-similar formations of Earth and the frenetic Hyper-development attained by humankind, culminating into a sense of claustrophobic anxiety conferred by the present condition.
It reflects upon the alienation from nature as well as the act of perceiving, and the biased interpretation of the notion of ‘reality’; By mixing CGI techniques and real footage the video blurs the distinction between reality and a digital recreation of it; thus making the viewers question themselves constantly whether what they are seeing is real or not.
Beginning with observing fractalic ever-evolving natural patterns and digital terrain scans, also known as LIDAR (point cloud structures composed of hundreds of million points); Then moving further into gradually developing terrains, where convoluted man-made networks begins to appear and disseminate across the earth’s surface. Resulting in a fundamental break of harmonious interdependence, reaching its peak into a hyper-developed yet desolated city, in the midst of a global crisis.
The Term ‘Horror Vacui’ has been subject to ambivalent interpretation for the artist: On the one hand, it relates literally to the Anthropocene, the way in which humanity has taken over the earth; on the other, it reflects upon the term ‘Emptiness’ from a Buddhist perspective. In Buddhist philosophy ’emptiness’ is seen as the deepest and ultimate truth inherent of all things, stripped down of their physical appearance.
‘Here then,
Form is no other than emptiness,
Emptiness no other than form.
Form is only emptiness,
Emptiness is only form.
Feeling, Thought, and choice,
Consciousness itself,
Are the same as this.
So, emptiness, no form,
No feeling, thought, or choice,
Nor is there consciousness.
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind;
No colour, sound, smell, taste, touch,
Or what the mind takes hold of,
Nor even act of sensing.’
(from the ‘sevenfold Puja’)
