Primordial Grief

Interactive Projection Installation (Live)

in collaboration with Sophie Stevens

Primordial Grief is an interactive projection installation which focuses on the stages of grief and their non-linear, repetitive cycle. The piece is composed of a circle divided into seven parts, each representing a stage of grief with slow motion imagery, both natural and man-made. Shock is depicted using imagery of raspberries being submerged in water. Denial is represented with the erratic and unpredictable movement made by a flame. What is traditionally considered to be the next stage, Anger, is depicted in the static buzz of LED lights. Light filtering through stain glass, blocked by the movement of a rustling branch, represents the bargaining stage. Depression is expressed through colorful reflections cast upon water droplets as they fall down a pane of textured glass. Testing can be observed by the audience through movement and imagery of yarn being continuously wound and entangled. Lastly, acceptance is symbolized as the rippling surface of a stream, struck by a beam of afternoon sunlight. 

Using motion sensors and a program called TouchDesigner, which runs a node based visual programming language, this piece tracks a path of motion made by its audience as they observe the piece. Their movement causes a directional blurring effect, which shows how the stages of grief bleed into one another. This installation allows each audience member to make an impact on the projection, meaning that the piece will be forever changing depending on the interactions of its viewers, just as the concept of grief transforms in individuals over the course of their lives. Accompanying the interactive projection is an audio composition made up of ordinary sounds that we unconsciously associate with the stages of grief that slowly form rhythms and melodies that we commonly perceive as music.