Field of Reeds, 2021
6 minutes, mouse-operated 360-degree video installation, augmented reality, moss, plasma television, mouse, bean bag chair, synthetic grass turf
Music: Philippe Lambert
Augmented reality programming assistance: Milan Koerner-Safrata
Field of Reeds is part of an ongoing series of installations which explore nature's place within the virtual confinement of the technological screen, echoing nature's disjointed place within our own world. The single channel 360 video piece is an expression of a longing for the physical meditative stillness florae possess, allowing the viewer to access this distinctiveness within the anthrosphere they log in from. The restriction of movement and lack of linear narrative within Field of Reeds works as a way to slow down the viewer to a coma-like state, grounding them to exist within the plant realm for a moment, to do nothing perceivably but sway gently in the wind as a plant does. The name for Field of Reeds was concluded from a concept in Egyptian mythology; when one died, it was just purely seen as a transition from one realm to another, where if granted permission from the gods, one could live eternally in a paradise known as the Field of Reeds. This place acts as a mirror image of one’s own prior life on Earth. Field of Reeds' mechanism is to vanish the viewer’s prior state of body and mind, to slow down the digestion of one’s own human life to instead photosynthesize for a moment.
Later adapted, Field of Feeds evolved into an augmented reality experience inviting participants to make connections with the urban spaces they see every day. In the place where real meets virtual, once-thriving speculative ecosystems are unveiled. Set in an alternate future, the app transforms modern life into a vibrant jungle once again shared with nature through the renewal of a lost relationship with Mother Earth.
Field of Reeds was created during the Montréal/Miami New Narratives Lab residency, in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada, MUTEK, O’Cinema, and Filmgate Miami.
