P002 → Future Temple: On Disconnection
A meditation on the fracture between Western culture, the natural world, and our sense of belonging.
Concept
The project is based on the following thesis: the current Western civilization is built upon the foundations of previous civilizations, yet the integration of these was never complete. There is a rupture - a discontinuity - almost like an
unfinished digestion. We have conserved, used, and continue to use elements of the past, but the continuity seems lost.
The project explores, in visual form, the consequences of this condition. It reveals a world where well-known and shared concepts of the past - represented through Classical shapes and architectural elements - remain present yet displaced. They have been reduced to mere forms, stripped of their original meaning, just as we, humans, have lost connection to that ancient knowledge and to nature itself.
Video excerpts from the two environments, composed in Unreal Engine.
Notes
The artificiality of the created environments and the monstrous quality of their inhabitants reflect disconnection. These creatures appear unnatural and forced, mirroring the current state of our civilization.
The first environment (the violet one) contemplates the absolute detachment from nature - every natural element, from the terrain to the sky and water, appears synthetic yet faintly recognizable.
The second (the red one) turns inward, reflecting on how fragmented human nature has become. The creature assembled from scattered parts inside the temple symbolizes our disjointed relationship with the whole we once belonged to.
Together, these two environments depict a civilization that remembers its symbols but not their essence - a world sustained by reflections of meaning, rather than meaning itself.
Context
Presented at festival_micro (Spain) and in other in experimental AV contexts across Europe, in dialogue with programs such as Simultan and PATCHlab.