Extended Manifesto

I’m afloat in the ocean, trying not to sink. I’m a crack in the asphalt you walk by on the street. I’m a falling star you’ll never see. The lash in your eye, the ‘I’ in team. So who am I? I’m the lesson you’ll never learn. The sickness that was never your concern. I’m the big surprise at the end of the night. The bridge in the gap, the corner of your mind. So who am I?

Knowledge is often defined as justified true belief, in that the belief must be considered to correspond to reality and must be derived from valid evidence and arguments. Beliefs can be acquired through perception, contemplation or communication. Faith however depends on everything existing in relativity and subjectivity and in a state of equilibrium with its surrounding environment.

“Most philosophers hold the view that belief formation is to some extent spontaneous and involuntary. Some people think that one can choose to investigate and research a matter but that one can not choose to believe. On the other hand, most people have the impression that in some cases people don't believe things because they don't want to believe, especially about a matter in which they are emotionally involved.” (Extract from Wikipedia ‘Is Belief Voluntary?’)

The following points I have derived from WONDERLAND – A MANIFESTO FOR 21ST CENTURY IMMERSIVE WORKS by MELINDA RACKHAM. I feel they are extremely relevant to what I am personally trying to achieve.

1. SIMPLE, STRONG, SUBTLE.
2. SEDUCTION OVERCOMES CONTROL.
3. PLAY IS PLEASURE.
4. CONTEMPLATE DON’T MANIPULATE.
5. ABSTRACTION AMPLIFIES MINIMALISM.
6. FEEL NOW, THINK LATER.
7. NOTHINGNESS ENHANCES EMPTINESS.

In Phase 1 I spoke of passing through the darkness of a haunted house and how its lack of visual stimulus intensifies other senses. Now, rather than using lack of sight I intend to create confusion of the visual, aided by non-complimentary sounds/music, in an attempt to create a feeling of uneasiness. Sound instills either the creation or amplification of movement and touch and the fear of being touched. It’s also common to believe that you can see things within this space that do not exist. It is the combinations of senses that suggest the most logical scenario and have you assume that you see someone pass behind you or run before you. Hopefully the lack of conformity to senses generally known to co-exist will evoke stress possibly also through a tactile sense instead of purely visual stimulus.

To achieve this I believe I will need to produce an installation, possibly a screen-based installation that looks at the idea of panic. An environment rather that a static image. I don’t want to simply create intuitive recognition of aesthetic quality but a paradigm, the inability to recognize truth and the want to fabricate an explanation. This ‘panic’ or ‘confusion’ may be about a many number of issues. The work may reflect the contemporary state of anxiety that occurs as new technologies, the inability to distinguish true from false, apprehension towards unfamiliarity or the unease due to …

Through this ‘confusion’ I have played with the idea of attempting to imbue various emotions such as the enhanced capacity to love the lost and vulnerable. These emotions may further increase confusion as the viewer will be unaware as to why they are feeling such towards an unfamiliar figure. Obviously the emotions instilled will vary according to the images I chose to depict. These figures will most probably be once familiar images now plagued by distortion, hyperbole, exaggeration.

To create the intended illusion I may possibly use a story or paragraph similar to the one I have written below that hints the appearance or existence of something but leaves it completely up to interpretation. This paragraph can help with the recognition of what the images depict however it can also be helpful in deterring ease of mind.

Her eyes now cast up, scouring the view above. The figure ahead housed her hopes and desires. Layer upon level, as her eyes pursued further she began to find it hard to distinguish the difference between each detail, every stage. The expanse of material before her both intimidated and enticed as she stepped forward to be enveloped within the shadow cast.

The other possibility along the same lines would be to use optical illusions again aided by music (non complementary) to confuse the viewer. This in turn would once again create unease however rather than evoking empathy it would hopefully instill apprehension through an anxiety of a different form. This may be fascination, claustrophobia etc.

I intend to look further into the works of Anne-Sarah Le Meur, Patricia Piccinini, Damien Hirst etc. Also optical illusions, empathy and possibly claustrophobia.