by Daniel Askill
a beautiful short film with a modern interpretation of rituals and the idea of rebirth or death engendering life. i was drawn to how all of the ritual participants in the film are alone, since by definition rituals are traditionally performed in a social gathering whether religious or otherwise. i thought of the paradox how in modern society we are intensely networked as a species, but at the same time very isolated. our access to astronomical amounts of data allows for deeper and deeper self exploration. i’m reminded of the recent quote from synaptic stimuli, “the deeper you look, the deeper you become.” so, maybe the creative direction behind solitary rituals is a commentary on the future of religion; being more of a nondenominational journey of self individuation.
another aspect inherent in certain rituals is the transcendence of pain as a rite of passage. in WHDNTD any reference to pain seems entirely cerebral (each of the scenarios seem to utilize levitation).
