Future Of The Earth (2022)
When Patrick Gusset reached out and asked me to imagine and visualize two parallel narratives of utopian and dystopian futures for the piece “Future of the Earth,” as well as to envision and create five different characters belonging to these potential future scenarios, I was truly captivated by his ambitious and transformative vision for the performance. The entire process of converting an industrial building in Basel into a dynamic techno-nature-culture living organism, meticulously crafted piece by piece by Patrick and his team, served as a profoundly stimulating master class for me—a process of both learning and unlearning, a crucial puzzle piece of “cosmopolitics” in my research. The tangible experience of cultivating mushrooms on the stage of the performance and surrendering oneself to the colossal melting ice cube at the (non)centre of the stage added an extra layer of depth to the immersive experience
ChARaCteRs
Having prosopagnosia, my process of visualization and painting is filled with complex details, yet it typically lacks focus on faces. That’s why working in immersive spaces with real, flesh-and-blood performers offers a chance for me to incorporate the faces of these performers into my 3D world, which is my immersive playground. In both the best and worst-case scenarios of the future of the earth, as offered by Patrick Gusset, all five characters I made are modeled based on the faces of Zen Jefferson, Yvonne Sembene, Patrick Gusset, and myself.
Pentagonal installation
Patrick Gusset’s fluid approach to working and his skill in utilizing the stage’s boundaries were pivotal in this project. Collaborating with an incredible team, including Jeremy Nedd, Simon Hänggi, Legion Seven, and Janiv Oron, Yvonne Sembene …significantly influenced my visual narrative process. The challenge of creating, adapting and timing the characters’ rhythm to match Patrick’s pentagonal screen installation was a beautifully mathematical journey for me
ObJeCt – SpACe
Worst Case Scenario with Legion Seven
Working with Legion Seven, is usually a magical experience. So, when I first read the draft of their meticulously crafted dystopian sci-fi story offered to The future of the Earth, ‘We for whom the path is clear, will choose the way we walk it,’ my excitement was enormous. I was captivated by the concept of the deathmask (the device implant) and the entire process of hacking to design one’s own death/void. I imagined the deathmask, drawing inspiration from the structure of a ladybug and the functionality of so-called robot dogs, meticulously navigating the nervous system to train the mind-body connection.
Two months later, when I received their recorded version of the story, it coincided almost perfectly with the end of my animation process. The first test run of the video and audio together and the synchronicity between the visuals and Seven’s otherworldly narration created an immersive experience of ‘spooky action at a distance,’ for us, which as a viewer you also might experience it.