INSPIRATION & INFLUENCE
My dad always told me the best way to go about giving a presentation was to: tell a story, tell your story, and tell the truth. So this is what I have done.
The entire project was inspired by an experience I had in the desert. The composition choices, and style of imagery and sound were influenced by parts of movies, lectures, and pieces of music that have made a lasting impression on me over the past five years. I have included the specific scenes and pieces and explain how they have influenced my installation, their significance and why I chose to embed fragments of them into my work.
The entire project was inspired by an experience I had in the desert. The composition choices, and style of imagery and sound were influenced by parts of movies, lectures, and pieces of music that have made a lasting impression on me over the past five years. I have included the specific scenes and pieces and explain how they have influenced my installation, their significance and why I chose to embed fragments of them into my work.
Inspiration
A year ago I found myself in the middle of the desert with a kindred spirit. Each year we try to make it to the one place that makes life worthwhile - Afrikaburn. This particular day we were feeling the toll of life and circumstance from what Afrikaburners call 'the default world' creeping into our perfect hidden bubble. We took a walk into the desert, leaving the happy burners and their massive wooden artworks behind us. For some reason we have always referred to each other as wolf and rabbit, I cannot remember where it ever came from. That day, we went wandering into the desert planes with nothing more than a fur coat, a black umbrella and a bottle of water. We walked in silence most of the time -comfortable contemplative silence. When we felt we had made it far enough from the gathering of people we sat down in what was a dried up riverbed. We stayed there for hours, although at the time we had no concept of time itself. We sat under that one black umbrella and watched as the weather seemed to constantly change. I watched the rain come over the hills and towards us, soaking any part of ourselves that couldn't fit under the umbrella. It would carry on past us and the sun would reemerge. Once again I could begin to hear faint sounds of insects chirping. Before long, the warm sun had dried us off, just in time for the howling winds to wrap us in clouds of dust. This too did not last long and simply just passed us by, leaving us with the warmth of the sun and a beautiful sky that had turned from blue, to pink to rusty oranges and yellows. The strange thing was, we couldn't bring ourselves to leave. The very thought of leaving this timeless place was so overwhelming that we just didn't. Eventually we managed to pull ourselves away from what we called 'limbo'. Strange occurrences happened there. Things that were probably quite normal, but to us, at that time, they seemed bizarre and out of place. A man ran passed us, out into the desert. We watched him get smaller and smaller until he disappeared over the hill. In the endless time we spent there, we never saw him come back. A little bird hopped up to us at one point. He cocked his head from side to side, observing us with wide dilated eyes. He came back quite a few times, always doing the same thing, as if on a loop. Between the two of us, many concepts were explored and contemplated during that time. The recurring theme was reality and time. That moment out in the desert was very important to both of us, and still is. Perhaps it was because we decided that everything is essentially meaningless beyond the meaning we assign to it. Or perhaps it was because we could feel like our worst selves and yet we were ok with it because for the first time we were with someone else who understood, which sparked a rare moment where we didn't feel quite so alone. Although this experience could never be recreated (and if it could it would ruin the essence of that experience), but it proved as inspiration for an immersive platform that could provide people with a space and guidance to contemplate some of life's most interesting mysteries. There is also a part of me that can't quite let that place go, so perhaps this artwork is one last effort to hold onto it.
INFLUENCE
DONNIE DARKO
IN SUMMARY
Opening Scene - Directors Cut
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ7Fz3m485s
This opening scene is one of my favourite scenes of any film. This is the director's cut which I prefer over the original, however I won't go into why as I will go on about it for an unreasonable amount of time and it doesn't pertain to how this scene influenced my project. The main part of this scene that has influenced my project is the audio. The audience is slowly introduced into the scene with the rumbling thunder before they see the scene. This is then complemented with the slow and simple introduction of a few piano keys. This slow delicate start gives the viewer a chance to grasp the atmosphere of the scene and slowly make out what it is they are looking at and the possibilities of the narrative that they have just been brought into the middle of. The thunder and the notes chosen at the start introduce a sense of mystery. The viewers first thoughts are unanswered questions along the lines of, 'what am I looking at? Is that a person? Why is he in the middle of the road? Is he OK? Why is he laughing? What has happened?' All these unanswered questions combined with the slow, gentle mysterious music immediately captivates the viewer. I would like to incorporate these elements into my project as I want to achieve a scene that immediately captivates the audience and inspires them to question.
Have you ever seen a Portal?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keJPaDSVzOs
For me, this scene is all about the script, specifically the lines:
1. When Donnie asks "Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?" and Frank replies "Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?"
2. When Donnie asks, "Frank, when is this going to stop?" and Frank replies, "You should already know that."
3. When Frank says, "Have you ever seen a portal?" and "Burn it to the ground."
The first lines are significant because it is drawing attention to the 'masks' most people wear on a daily basis. It highlights the absurdity in the fact that most of us present ourselves in a certain filtered way without even being aware that we're doing it. It brings up the question of whether any of us truly know who we are.
The second lines are significant because it is a metaphor for our perception of time and life. When we are battling with our circumstances and with being alive the question, "When is this going to stop?" often comes to mind. Frank's answer, in essence, points out that we should know when it is going to stop because we ourselves are the only ones capable of changing our circumstances. Be it being proactive and changing the things that are bringing about our problems or ultimately ending our own life, bar someone else taking our own life, the answer is ultimately in our own hands.
The third lines I have included in my soundtrack for personal reasons. They became a running joke between myself and the friend I experienced 'Limbo' with during our week in the desert. Many film makers and artists include something significant specifically to them within their work. I guess it's a somewhat of a secret message embedded in the fibres of the artwork. I've always appreciated when artists do this, so I couldn't help myself when given the opportunity.
1. When Donnie asks "Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?" and Frank replies "Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?"
2. When Donnie asks, "Frank, when is this going to stop?" and Frank replies, "You should already know that."
3. When Frank says, "Have you ever seen a portal?" and "Burn it to the ground."
The first lines are significant because it is drawing attention to the 'masks' most people wear on a daily basis. It highlights the absurdity in the fact that most of us present ourselves in a certain filtered way without even being aware that we're doing it. It brings up the question of whether any of us truly know who we are.
The second lines are significant because it is a metaphor for our perception of time and life. When we are battling with our circumstances and with being alive the question, "When is this going to stop?" often comes to mind. Frank's answer, in essence, points out that we should know when it is going to stop because we ourselves are the only ones capable of changing our circumstances. Be it being proactive and changing the things that are bringing about our problems or ultimately ending our own life, bar someone else taking our own life, the answer is ultimately in our own hands.
The third lines I have included in my soundtrack for personal reasons. They became a running joke between myself and the friend I experienced 'Limbo' with during our week in the desert. Many film makers and artists include something significant specifically to them within their work. I guess it's a somewhat of a secret message embedded in the fibres of the artwork. I've always appreciated when artists do this, so I couldn't help myself when given the opportunity.
Gretchen Ross
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doC63IdYlA0
I have never been able to put my finger on why I am so attached to this piece of music, but I think it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. The song is called Gretchen Ross and it was composed by Michael Andrews for the film . I found the sheet music online and integrated the melody into my soundtrack.
Every living creature dies alone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j1IMBM-QyE
My dad introduced me to this book during my high school years. It was called The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley. I have an enormous amount of respect for Aldous Huxley and his ideas. There was one quote that resonated very strongly with both of us and the same idea is expressed in this scene. The quote read,
"We live together, we act on, and react to, one another; but always and in all circumstances we are by ourselves. The martyrs go hand in hand into the arena; they are crucified alone. Embraced, the lovers desperately try to fuse their insulated ecstasies into a single self-transcendence; in vain. By its very nature every embodied spirit is doomed to suffer and enjoy in solitude. Sensations, feelings, insights, fancies—all these are private and, except through symbols and at second hand, incommunicable. We can pool information about experiences, but never the experiences themselves. From family to nation, every human group is a society of island universes." (Huxley, 2009, p. 10)
This idea, of being truly alone in this world, is what I have tried to capture with the wolf sculpture. The wolf looks and feels real. It's stomach moves as if it is breathing and you can hear sounds of breathing. All your senses are telling you that there is a real creature beside you. But, you know better, you know it is not real. This is meant to bring about the question of how alone we really are in this world. Our sense can deceive us, this I am trying to show. The concept that Donnie describes in this scene, is a concept I have been grappling with for most of my late teenage and adult life. Including it in this project is not just a way to present the question to others, but also to try and explore the question myself.
"We live together, we act on, and react to, one another; but always and in all circumstances we are by ourselves. The martyrs go hand in hand into the arena; they are crucified alone. Embraced, the lovers desperately try to fuse their insulated ecstasies into a single self-transcendence; in vain. By its very nature every embodied spirit is doomed to suffer and enjoy in solitude. Sensations, feelings, insights, fancies—all these are private and, except through symbols and at second hand, incommunicable. We can pool information about experiences, but never the experiences themselves. From family to nation, every human group is a society of island universes." (Huxley, 2009, p. 10)
This idea, of being truly alone in this world, is what I have tried to capture with the wolf sculpture. The wolf looks and feels real. It's stomach moves as if it is breathing and you can hear sounds of breathing. All your senses are telling you that there is a real creature beside you. But, you know better, you know it is not real. This is meant to bring about the question of how alone we really are in this world. Our sense can deceive us, this I am trying to show. The concept that Donnie describes in this scene, is a concept I have been grappling with for most of my late teenage and adult life. Including it in this project is not just a way to present the question to others, but also to try and explore the question myself.
Rabbits
RUBBER
In my opinion, Quentin Dupieux's film Rubber is a work of genius. The film follows the story of a homicidal car tyre that rolls around the Californian desert killing people. He also falls in love. It sounds ridiculous, trust me I know, but if you are able to pick up on the subtitles of this film and appreciate the pure artistry of its style, you will be blown away. Who knew a film director could be so talented that you could spend 82 minutes engrossed in the narrative of a tyre. You may even catch yourself empathising with him.
Monologue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaZ0LnkMITw&t=268s
One of the most brilliant monologues. Why? No reason.
But in all seriousness, this scene brilliantly communicates the absurdities of life that most of us are ignorantly unaware of because we have never taken the time to sit down and question everything. At at the end of the day, a lot of the questions of life could be answered with a simple 'no reason'. The bigger question that is confronted here is - is there reason to life itself? Is there a god? Is the existence of the universe and the life forms within it a planned occurrence or is it all just some meaningless irrelevant phenomenon . If, as the sherif states, "Life itself is filled with no reason," then perhaps life itself has no reason. People like to assign meaning to things. It seems to provide them with some sort of security. But perhaps reason is just that, a comfort blanket people use to protect themselves from the fact that maybe things just happen, in and of themselves. I guess I can't quite grasp why people are so scared of a lack of reason. Perhaps one of the viewers of my project can enlighten me.
I would like to have his line "Ladies, Gentlemen, the film you are about to see today is an homage to the no reason. That most powerful element of style," as part of the beginning of my soundtrack.
But in all seriousness, this scene brilliantly communicates the absurdities of life that most of us are ignorantly unaware of because we have never taken the time to sit down and question everything. At at the end of the day, a lot of the questions of life could be answered with a simple 'no reason'. The bigger question that is confronted here is - is there reason to life itself? Is there a god? Is the existence of the universe and the life forms within it a planned occurrence or is it all just some meaningless irrelevant phenomenon . If, as the sherif states, "Life itself is filled with no reason," then perhaps life itself has no reason. People like to assign meaning to things. It seems to provide them with some sort of security. But perhaps reason is just that, a comfort blanket people use to protect themselves from the fact that maybe things just happen, in and of themselves. I guess I can't quite grasp why people are so scared of a lack of reason. Perhaps one of the viewers of my project can enlighten me.
I would like to have his line "Ladies, Gentlemen, the film you are about to see today is an homage to the no reason. That most powerful element of style," as part of the beginning of my soundtrack.
BOJACK HORSEMAN
I think Bojack Horseman is one of the most brilliant pieces of modern day existential commentary. This is one of my favourite scenes and when I by mistake came across it the other day I realised it was the perfect clip to end my soundtrack on. Not only does Bojack summarise the concept of my film, but sarah lynn makes a comment about the dome, which I thought was a wonderful way of tying things together. Bojack says, "In the great grand scheme of things, we're just tiny specks that will one day be forgotten.
So, it doesn't matter what we did in the past, or how we'll be remembered. The only thing that matters is right now, this moment, this one spectacular moment we are sharing together. Right, Sarah Lynn? Sarah Lynn? Sarah Lynn?" For those of you who have not seen this before, Sarah Lynn died in that planetarium from overdosing on heroin that happened to be named 'bojack'. This is a perfect example of finally feeling like you are not alone just to be metaphorically slapped in the face when you are reminded of the truth of life that Huxley communicated so well - "We live together, we act on, and react to, one another; but always and in all circumstances we are by ourselves." This is the point of my wolf sculpture. to reminded people how easily our brains can be tricked into believing we are not alone, but the truth is, in essence, we are always alone.
So, it doesn't matter what we did in the past, or how we'll be remembered. The only thing that matters is right now, this moment, this one spectacular moment we are sharing together. Right, Sarah Lynn? Sarah Lynn? Sarah Lynn?" For those of you who have not seen this before, Sarah Lynn died in that planetarium from overdosing on heroin that happened to be named 'bojack'. This is a perfect example of finally feeling like you are not alone just to be metaphorically slapped in the face when you are reminded of the truth of life that Huxley communicated so well - "We live together, we act on, and react to, one another; but always and in all circumstances we are by ourselves." This is the point of my wolf sculpture. to reminded people how easily our brains can be tricked into believing we are not alone, but the truth is, in essence, we are always alone.
