Lightning Rod (Memphis)
Two-channel video installation with sound, color
32:44
2018
This is the first in a series of two-channel videos that exploit pre-filmic stroboscopic technologies. Stroboscopic effects have been important in my work for quite a while, as both medium-centric elements of structural film, and highly affecting tools for influencing perceptual and mental states. This two-channel installation looks at the relationship between stroboscopic effects, mysticism, and prognostication (Brion Gysin claimed Nostradamus made his predictions by staring into the sun and waving his hand in front of his eyes). The voice is based on my own, but reproduced by a publicly available AI voice replacement service. Standing facing the sunrise and sunset, I waved my hand in front of the camera, inducing ecstatic future facing visions in each of us. This future-facing sungazing can be seen as a nature-based form of self-optimization, a nootropics of the ancients. .