AN EXAMPLE OF HUMAN EMOTION
Overview
"An Example Of Human" is an experimental video art installation that was conceived for a small Experimental Art Exhibition in Carlisle.
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The core idea behind this installation is to represent life through visuals, music and narration. Here, life is being shown as an endless road that’s need to be travelled on no matter what.
A Randomized Experinece
Two individual people are slowly traversing through different environments, progressing from a more populated area into a secluded, lonely place to demonstrate the changes every one of us goes through while living our lives.
However, only through the music and narration it is determined if the road those two individuals take is a happy, sad or frightening one: While the visuals repeat over and over and over, the music goes on and slowly changes into different moods and themes while a voice is giving short monologues.
Because of this random aspect of the piece, one person can see the path down the road of life as a happy and good one while another person experiences the despair and fear of a person who doesn’t know what lies at the end of the road. One might even see the video in total silence.
This is the central idea behind the installation: while many of us can walk down the same path, every single one experiences it individually. Every person’s life is different, it can change from hope to despair, from fear to happiness, from sadness to anger. And in this example of human emotion, everyone can experience a unique seven-minute excerpt of what life can feel like.
Inducing emotion through sound and music and changing the way the visuals feel is the key for this installation to work. The former expressionless faces suddenly express emotions: there is loneliness, there is fear, there is sadness. The simple environments become menacing, melancholic, lonely or full of life. They can be places where we want to stay, but they also can turn into a place we want to leave. A simple empty alleyway can become a threat or safe place.
A Story About Life
The two people in the film also showcase how two individuals decided to live their lives: the first part focuses on “The Dreamer”. As he wanders through a city, he dreams about the life he wants to live, but is still aware of the life he is actually living. However, over time those dreams start to fade away and lose their colour: “The Dreamer” has accepted his fate. The second part shifts the focus to “The Pretender”. Instead of dreaming, he pretends to live his version of his perfect life, not realizing that reality it still lurking all around him, trying to pull him back.
However, this simple narrative is the subject to change once the music and narration start to play out, changing the fate of both “The Dreamer” and “The Pretender”, changing how their life will play out, changing the road they will take.
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The two main keywords to summarize the installation are “life” and “emotion”. In general, it can be said that the “life” part of the installation is represented through the visuals while the music and narration focuses more on the “emotion”.
Due to its random nature it is difficult to recreate the experience, but both the visuals and the entire soundtrack are available separately. While this is not the full piece, one can experience at least a small part of what the entire installation was.
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Just select any track from the playlist below, start the video and enjoy this brief exmaple of human emotion.