URSULA MAYER

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The Fire of Knowledge Burns all Karma to Ashes   | >

 

THE FIRE OF KNOWLEDGE BURNS ALL KARMA TO ASHES
2019
HD loop on LED screen
2 x 3 metres

‘The Fire of Knowledge Burns all Karma to Ashes’ explores contemporary forms of embodiment and materiality in our digital milieu. Updating Haraway's cyborg for the 21st century the avatar is an icon for the posthuman, in which the human as always already entangled within more-than-human networks.

A heavenly figure floats, pixel snags smoothed into flowing motion. Calm, she idles in liquid crystals. Waiting, she invites and invokes. From a digital nether world, from darkness, she emerges. We feel the vibration of her pounding heart, as electric fire and fire strays from her outstretched hand. An avatar, a hybrid of technical schematic and somatic gestures, a techno-living system. With the glitchy glitter of enticing arms, she beckons us towards her.

The end of the universe.
Its beginning.
Pause.
Start.
Repeat.

 

Director
Ursula Mayer

Performer
Valentijn de Hingh

Director of Photography
Albin Wildner

Gaffer
Johannes Höß

Costume
Iris van Herpen

Creative Director & Costume
Meg Andrew

Make-up
Isshehungry

Visual Effects & Post Production by effectHaus
VFX Supervisor, Effects Technical Director
Bernhard Eiser

Digital Compositor
Florian Grünberger

Commission for 19. Istanbul Biennale
Produced with the support of Phileas,
Austrian Federal Chancellery,
Austrian Cultural Forum, Istanbul