#assignment01

Paprika is a Japanese animation that explores the concept of a dream device that allows the user to visit and interact with any dreams. However, as the story progresses it reveals the device has been stolen and misused in manipulating people’s perception of dreams and reality. The concept of this dream device represents the idea of Breton’s (1924) definition of the state of “surreality” that combines the conscious and the unconscious. Particularly in this parade scene, the nonsensical random objects contrasting with the city backdrop showcases the merges of the two different states that creates chaos, confusion and questioning of reality. The concept of non-sequiturs as Shaun stated in the week 02 lecture can also be identified in this film to differentiate between the real and unreal.

This sound installation is located in the Namib desert, in Southern Africa that plays Toto’s ‘Africa’ in an infinite loop. The setup of the equipment including the MP3 player and the speakers are solar-powered and allow the song to perform a never-ending concert to a landscape of nothingness. The comedic choice of music considering the location mixed with the undisclosed whereabouts of the installation creates a juxtaposition of distant realities, a surreal commentary on post-modern music consumption all whilst providing someone how may stumble across it with a surreal listening experience.

This installation artwork utilises mirrors and reflections to create the illusion of an infinite space with interactive 3-dimensional light sculptures that responds to the viewer’s command. The immersiveness of the installation submerges the audience visually and alludes to an illusion of infinite expansion provoking a state of unconsciousness while in a “waking state”. The combination of reality and dream produce a surreal experience that Breton (1924) had identified.

Anadol’s creation of this immersive audio-visual experimental cinema was created with over 100 million photographs of New York City, using machine learning algorithms to represent the idea of a machine dreaming about an alternative future for New York. Images of data float throughout the room enveloping the audience’s vision fully immersing the viewer inside the dream of a machine. As a result, it merges the perception of reality and dream, a dream where machines have aspirations and consciousness, thus creating a surreal audiovisual story of what could be.

This interactive outdoor installation located at Cleveland Botanical Gardens, US, allows viewers to take a peek into an alternative universe through a multisensory experience such as audio, visual, and tactile. The juxtaposition between the irrationality of a door situated in a natural environment and without an obvious structure around it to give it purpose could be interpreted as surreal. The animation that can be viewed through the peek hole displays an alternative digital world using animation to virtually recreate nature, which contrasts strongly with the botanical nature surrounding the installation and further enhances the state of surreality.

Real Time: Analog Digital Clock Video