2.1.23 My Written Proposal

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Working Title - Megalomania

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In this piece, I want to capture the sense of disillusionment, desolation, and dread that comes with the collapse of one’s belief system. For context, I was raised in a catholic household, with a catholic education, instilled with catholic ideals and narratives. However lately I have felt distant and detached from this faith, and feel the urge to question ideas that are otherwise inherent to Christianity, specifically the nature of God and its relationship with human suffering. Why is the world plagued with unjust suffering? Why are things like evil and sin inherent to God’s design? What benevolent God would allow the existence of such a cruel world? Is God indifferent to human suffering? If there is no God, then what is the nature of suffering? How must we attribute it to ourselves? The further we sink into these contradictions, the more suffocating it becomes. And it is these feelings of dread and desperation that I wish to capture in my radical.

I would like to combine things that I film myself (digitally) potentially with found-footage and other I see this project as being formed into two (or more) segments. With the former, I would like to work in the realm of found-footage, as well as footage that I film and augment accordingly. I am very excited to fit this patchwork together, like creating a collage. I have always envisioned this project to be black and white and make use of a grey scale. I would like to use this feature to cast an aura that is bleak, dismal and occasionally disorienting for the audience. I would like to use the imagery paired with dramatic sound, droning and operatic, at least for some part of the piece.

In the second part, I’d like to either just record or film (or both) scripted conversations and meditations about the nature of existence, suffering and meaning. I think that seeing/hearing people actually discuss the topics at hand would make it just a tad clearer for the audience to see what my reason for making the piece actually was. I am not saying to totally lay out the meaning right there, but instead guide the audience to the existentialist concepts and ideas that I want to focus on, while still keeping the surrealism and vagueness that I am trying to emulate. This also gives me the opportunity to write, which is a hobby that I want to use to my advantage for this project. I imagine this segment actually encapsulating the bulk of the project.

I’m not sure what I’d like to do as far as installation. I do have access to a CRT TV, and thus feel obligated to (finally) put it to use, just because I can, and they seem like a commodity. However, I don’t know what I’d do with it, and it’ll be a while before I’m able to go and retrieve it too. I see some kind of structure built around the tv, perhaps one that requires some level of audience-involvement. One idea I have right now is, the important audio of the piece is only played through (provided) headphones, and requires the audience to literally sit with the piece and engage with it that way, as if they were having (or witnessing) a conversation, discussion or debate.

All equiptment for filming can be checked out from the cage, and edited using the software we have access to. If I do end up filming one of the conversations, I don't necessarily know if I will, but if I do I do have a particular vision of how the set would be dressed. Regardless, that is something I will tackle when it rears its head in certainty.

Here is my moodboard.

https://www.pinterest.com/kpr4720/radical-mood-board/

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Information

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Kenneth Reynolds

kpr4720@rit.edu