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“Everywhere surfing has replaced the older sports.”
“I am talking to myself again.”
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This project was first started as research into the correlation, if any, between schizophrenia and YouTube. I argued that the platform amplified paranoid thoughts, as like-minded individuals are easy to find. I could also argue that the format of sharing video blogs can increase thought disorders by validating these symptoms - as if to say “look, see - there it is!” My secondary thought was that a lot of the videos I was finding were very good - for reasons beyond a fetishization of mental illness. Through searching these very-low view count, I saw vistas and DIY weapons and makeup tutorials among the many unexpected things you’d find when you’re not looking for anything in particular. I was simultaneously finding myself slowly ‘going crazy’ from trying to not quit smoking. I self-diagnosed myself with every breathing problem and anxiety disorder possible, slowly broadening my symptoms. By endlessly researching my ‘problem,’ I was making my problem worse. I went back to work and the project sat still. I slowly felt better myself, partially due to the lack of time to ruminate on my own woes. In my particular case, I can determine that the internet amplified my terror and concern due to the fact that I could find what I was looking for - and I wanted to hear bad news to verify my fears. This compilation of screenshots is the companion piece to the short film ‘Untitled David Lynch Project.’ I don’t remember why I decided it should be called that.
THREAT ASSESSMENT CENTER
UNTITLED DAVID LYNCH PROJECT
Jung or Arieti (maybe) suggested schizophrenia could be a result of an over-stressed brain releasing toxins that damaged the central nervous system. Perhaps i’m paraphrasing. Perhaps i’m wrong. There are those who will maintain that the schizo is incapable of uttering the word I, and that we must restore his ability to pronounce this hallowed word. All of which the schizo sums up by saying: they’re fucking me over again. “I won’t say I any more, I’ll never utter the word again; it’s just too damn stupid. Every time I hear it, I’ll use the third person instead, if I happen to remember to. If it amuses them. And it won’t make one bit of difference.” Desire intrinsically produces an imaginary object that functions as a double of reality, as though there were a “dreamed-of object behind every real object.” All problems can only be referenced against an ‘other’- in order to have, one must do without.
When I write about schizophrenia, I am more accurately detailing a crème brûlée scented vape cloud. I am writing about the snow and the fog in Silent Hill. I am writing about the way we transmit disease particles through the air over time. I find myself stumbling over words. I’m am perhaps talking more about ‘schizo-culture,’ which was meant as more of an introduction to more radical and avant-garde ways of thinking. Much like the body without organs, I approach schizophrenia like a horizon instead of a goal. I’m giving myself a headache trying to figure out what point i’m trying to get to. I have 322 open tabs in the internet browser on my iPhone. Frederic Jameson said something about ‘postmodernism’ into ‘late-capitalism’ being tied to ‘pastiche and schizophrenia.’ I maybe am trying to use schizophrenic to describe a style of work that I like. When Lacan said “the word is the murder of the thing,” was he writing about schizophrenia? What about when Barthes said that “the sentence, the word, is a way of murdering the outside world”? It’s all about context, really. Jameson also said that “the allusive and elusive plagiarism of older plots is, of course, also a feature of pastiche.” Perhaps schizophrenia, by my terms, is a realization of plagiarism?
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budget: hard drive 100 food, snacks 125 beer, wine 100 three months supply of wellbutrin antidepressant and stop-smoking aids 75 cigarettes (4 packs over the course of production) 60 misappropriated meeting expenses 40 xl halle selassie shirt (???) 30 earned by: sp404sx sold - +500 native instruments soundcard sold +100 guitar hero for ps4 sold+30 old hp probook sold +50 ipad 1 sold +20 this is only relevant because i was unemployed at the start of this project. i had no money but a lot of time. i was also very worried about money again.
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The criteria for material to be used was simple: The original video had to be on YouTube. The search terms were to be sorted by view count, and only videos with under 5000 views could be watched and downloaded. The video had to be max 480p and under 4 minutes long.
youtube search history: highway cop pass woods paper wilderness sounds car in forest at night abandoned in woods animatronics destroyed madonna crying blood mummy unearthing nightmare world vision meditation and anxiety murder of a millionaire corona hidden truth psycic research lab biofeedback presentation firework from a distance ballroom dancing to ambient music barn dance dark at the end of the world we 80’s city aerial view meshes of the afternoon remake light orbs broken mask sculpture demidoff colossus anatomical machines christ of the abyss alarm clock ringing puppies nursing nosebleed man watching tv doing a crossword room spinning sitting on bed car doing donuts finger guns computer glitching rain in mud rain in puddle watering plants
amputee working southern woman dancing trashy woman dancing bikini vhs hit me bird swarms magician magic tricks at home midwest roadhouse strip club outside low quality sorry for bad quality what small town spring break mistake cell phone woman my chipped tooth microchip detection motherboard phone ringing garden of eden found papers 9/11 paper falling trepanation hollywood walk of fame on all the flesh that says yes empty restaurant math paper news paper shredded paper destroyed house surveillance worry night vision worry transforming into recording off tv lamp for sale tv for sale slow zoom hallway dolly zoom lake vhs house for sale
haunted hotel light leak student horror film illusion filming being filmed dv video camera through curtains looking through curtains looking out window looking in window gangstalking hive mind mk ultra mind control yearbook flipthrough torn photograph sitting down for dinner bubbling water bryan ropar’s plastic chair world meatsleep mrkatyia scream refbatch bob hickman lena kochman interminably abused conglomerate christopher rush the new storyteller victoria a beeching dominic lyne ted jesus christ god dan quinn gabrielle chana james gregory gnn kaela creighton dani e malik alex como sr bonnie lee c james lico truth news network tracy twyman robert the deplorable
occult warrior logistic services morgellons terracer margie fjeld angus barron oro ranch steve outtrim john sunol stanislaw wojdylak clearwater lake how to soothe a burn face coming out of the dark eyes wide shut finger to lips a to b projected on a building finger snap untitled title screen happiness comes from simple things how to open a door red lips sharp panning hands close up motion blur face empty living room handshake dead horse bay forest flashlight dark monkey mask scream mask witchcraft witchcraft computer i’m back