glacier, pilgrimage, robot a film by ien
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“glacier, pilgrimage, robot� a film by ien this document { an exploration, an explanation }
.contents// .narrative .process .cast .locations .symbolism { fire, orange water, energy, blue women, men } .sources { image, sound, + }
the space above is for you to write notes. or for me. anyone, really.
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(narrative) the rise and arguable deification of white men was a cosmic mistake. woman, and the forces of the cosmos, correct this mistake. but the universe does not waste. the brain man spent hundreds* of years perfecting is transplanted into a new race of sensual, female robots. after all, the brain belongs to mother nature. and she giveth. and she taketh away. *hundreds refers to the few hundred years after the creation and global implementation of the scientific process, which, in my opionion, is the only other way to properly use a brain, other than for poetry. all previous cerebral development can be considered unintentional, if human history is only viewed from a “western” frame of reference, as it so often is.
glacier this word was interpreted the most loosely, in that its manifestation throughout the film is the least evident. glaciers, in my subjective reality, are large masses of water (the most abundant element on earth) which moves slowly and relentlessly around the earth. its movement leaves a terrestrial, topographic scar, defining the surface of the planet. in this film, “a deep, irreversible scar” is “the glacier”. in this narrative, what scars the planet are the humans that participate in the anthropocene, especially white men. white men, or rather, western zeitgeist, proliferates this world: its execution of economy, its relationship to nature, and its concepts of possession (power, land, objects, etc.). white men are specifically victimized in this narrative because they hold the most privilege within these systems, therefore possess the most freedom to act within these systems, therefore doing the most damage onto the earth.
pilgrimage the pilgrimage is manifested through the medium of the narrative itself: film, or motion picture. in this sense, the series of frames in the composed sequence define the journey of the viewer. the first frame and/or the last frame hold little significance independently, but the holistic journey is where meaning is derived. obviously. the pilgrimage is also interpreted as a “jouney of change”. “magic” or “life” is the thing which journeys. it passes through various states of existence: as the soul of living creatures, as The power of creation/destruction/transformation. it is that which is given and taken away.
robot robots are assembled. humans (and all living things) are grown. evolution is stupid. it reacts only to current circumstances, and what was once essential for survival in the past can be deeply inconveniencing in the future. for this reason, robots are a more sustainable race as occupants of a life-giving planet. if you’re looking for a justification of the above statement, just pause for a while and try to rationalize it for yourself. it’s not that hard. and, if, after a while, you find a reason to disprove my argument, congratulations. truly.
(locations) old (current) earth
indeterminate space
subconscious/pre-spatial abstract space
neue earth
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(process) tarot deck
this deck was created as a material manifestation of some of the things that came to mind when pondering the given words for this assignment. films, video games, music videos, and science stuff (namely astrophysics and glaciology). they all have a specific meaning individually, in the universes they occupy. they also have a second meaning when defined in relation to “glacier”, “pilgrimage”, and/or “robot”. these cards were used to sketch out a sequence of events, so as to begin forming a narrative: a witch summons an extraterrestrial goddess to crash into the planet and destroy it. all matter is removed, leaving behind the lingering vibrations of human consciousness. the consciousness is housed inside robots, as they are less tempermental than people.
(process) tarot deck, explained (right to left) (robot) david, ai robot who seeks to create life siri, “soft ai”, seemingly ubiquitous cloud-based question-answerer, “a voice” the puppetmaster, a self-identifying lifeform born from a “sea of information”/ the major, a human brain in an artifical shell robot bees with programmed-hive minds, influenced by the internet and social media stochastic organization of humans during obama’s inaugural address, compared to the uniform organization of robots pioneer 10, first manmade object to leave the solar system
(robot, pilgrimage) trajectory of pioneer 10, pioneer 11 pioneer plaque, a map for other intellegent lifeforms to find us (retro-pilgrimage)
(pilgrimage) mecca, religious pilgrimage final fantasy x, paradise vs. ruin; monsters to kill and collect, pilgrimage for sacrifice harold and kumar, hedonistic pilgrimage
(pilgrimage, glacier) a comet, large ice mass on a semi-fixed path. pilgrimage of orbit, losing mass with each revolution (glacier) parallells between the earth-carving effects of glaciers and how humans have made a comparable impact to the earth through mining, in this example glacial erratics as a special real-estate opportunity glacial erratics as a tourist attraction glacial erratics as a random act of consciousness, or a momument of love
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(cast, in order of appearance) white man (bruce willis, ian holm, lee evans; paul brannigan, joe szula, billy crudup, cillian murphy, benedict cumberbatch)
magic; or, life (red sparkles (the fifth element), iridescent/
crustacean/pleated ball thing (“the gate” music video for bjork), intrinsic field subtractor (watchmen), cosmic colours (doctor strange))
woman (björk guðmundsdóttir)
mother nature (rooney mara (cgi), björk guðmundsdóttir (cgi))
death (cgi)
the brain (as appropriated in the lastest ghost in the shell film)
robots (bjork robots by chris cunningham)
(symbolism) fire, orange
fire is the first technology; it quickly gets out of hand and man ends up destroying himself. “thus did man become the architect of his own demise”
water, energy, blue
pure blue light as some holistic representation of consciousness. empathy, destruction, life
women, men
women as some object to be acted upon or taken apart, also as a thing to receieve other things. men as vulnerable, naked. tremendous energy required to dissasemble its privilige. shown as a useless, languid husk of skin in the film’s “epilogue” 10
(sources) image the fifth element (1997) dir. luc besson björk: the gate (2017) dir. andrew thomas huang björk: black lake (2015) dir. andrew thomas huang under the skin (2013) dir. jonathan glazer kung fu [hustle] (2004) dir. stephen chow the girl with the dragon tattoo opening sequence (2011) dir. david fincher watchmen (2009) dir. zack snyder lucy (2014) dir. luc besson sunshine (2007) dir. danny boyle björk - mutual core (2012) dir. andrew thomas huang björk: notget (2017) dir. warren du preez & nick thornton jones doctor strange (2016) dir. scott derrickson björk: family (moving album cover) (2015) dir. andrew thomas huang ghost in the shell (2017) dir. rupert sanders björk - all is full of love (1999) dir. chris cunningham
sound ryuichi sakamoto “arriving at fort kiowa” from “the revenant original motion picture soundtrack” (2015) milar records björk “family” from “vulnicura” (2015) produced by björk, arca, the haxan cloak one little indian records
(sources) influences, pre-production, etc. prometheus (2012) dir. ridley scott ghost in the shell (1995) dir. mamoru oshii hated in the nation (black mirror) (2016) dir. james hawes final fantasy x (2001) dir. uoshinori kitase pioneer 10, pioneer 11 voyager 1, voyager 2 i, robot (2004) dir. alex proyas harold and kumar go to white castle (2004) dir. danny leiner the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy (2005) dir. garth jennings avatar (2009) dir. james cameron gravity (2013) dir. alfonso cuarón contact (1997) dir. robert zemeckis the animatrix: the second renaissance part i, part ii (2003) dir. mahiro maeda
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