Very Nice (fun) Methods
Methods Session One:
What
“The Wrath of Beelzebub” is a topical and satirical art installation inside of a techno event. It was part of a series of projects involving pop-up parties with no invitation, no screening and no discrimination whatsoever. The goal of these parties was to create and inject the people attending with the feeling of self-expression, the sense of belonging to a community as well as, reserving your identity as a human being, completely and utterly equal, connected to everyone within. The events had a strict no video or photography policy, the idea was that the experience was unique and only available to those who attended. The animations presented in the work is of demons with the most important of them being Beelzebub sitting on a throne holding his ring fingertip, a symbol of the greek-orthodox church while hymns and gospels are playing in the background. When the hard kicks of the fast-rhythmic drop of the song swoop in, a giant demon on a cross appears in front of giving the sense of the demon being judged and tortured for his actions in front of Beelzebub. The crowd was “submerged” in this cave-like environment and where in a sense “forced” to look at the animations.
How
How this work came to be is through the long process of ‘trial and error’ in which my team and I, worked countless hours, hunched in front of computer screens and projectors, behind electricity panels, with heavy wiring always coursing through your feet making it hard to even move inside the venue at times. The actual animations were imagined, created and exported in blender using animation techniques, sound effects and design, as well as texturing, posing and lighting to create surreal but also believable images for the viewers. The most difficult part of the process was actually projecting the work in 3D space without the beams of the projects being seen as well as to create the sense of it being a hologram that you can actually walk through. The idea came on to us when a member of the crew suggested the visuals being of satanic symbolism, everyone was too quick to judge before thinking back to the political aspect of the suggestion, another major concern was safety, safety of the crew as well as the people attending the event. With thousands of watts of electricity passing through mixers, DJ equipment, projectors as well as huge sound system to accommodate the whole building. The team were selected artists and technicians inside of the community that share the same values and ideologies.
Why
With a team of specialists we took on the challenge to make something that hadn’t been seen before. The difficulty of the work being of religious symbolism occurred to us quite quickly with the goal of the work being critical and not offensive. We tried to really instill to the crowd that the meaning behind those animations was far bigger, with a political as well as critical point of view, besides it being quite controversial at the core. The timing of the installation is quite important as it gives context to the religious symbolism in the work. At the time of the project, the church of Cyprus was “undergoing” investigation for economical as well as ethical malpractices. With the highest ranking members of the Church being found with counterfeit wealth, carrying out illegal and corrupted deals with members of the government, the army as well as the police force. The goal of the work was to imply this sort of irony in which the demon itself is seen holding out the symbol of the greek-orthodox church, while sitting on its throne with the wealth his corrupted actions had brought upon him. The investigation has since been discontinued.
Older Version
What (200 words max.)
193.
“The Wrath of Beelzebub” is a digital visual work that came to be an art installation inside of a techno event. It was part of a series of projects involving pop-up parties with no invitation, no screening and no discrimination whatsoever. Everyone was welcome to join for free and could even bring company/friends as well their own drinks and food. The goal of these parties was to create and inject the people attending with the feeling of self-expression, the sense of belonging to a community as well as, reserving your identity as a human being, completely and utterly equal, connected to everyone within. The events had a strict no video or photography rule which everyone thankfully complied to, the idea was that the experience was unique and only available to those who attended. The animations presented in the work is of demons with the most important of them being Beelzebub sitting on a throne holding a symbol of the greek-orthodox church while hymns and gospels are playing in the background. When the hard kicks of the fast-rhythmic drop of the song swoop in, a giant demon on a cross appears in front of giving the sense of the demon being judged and tortured for his actions in front of Beelzebub.
How (200 words max.)
195.
How this work came to be is through the long process of ‘trial and error’ in which my team and I, worked countless hours, hunched in front of computer screens and projectors, behind electricity panels, with heavy wiring always coursing through your feet making it hard to even move inside the venue at times. The actual animations were imagined, created and exported in blender using animation techniques, sound effects and design, as well as texturing, posing and lighting to create surreal but also believable images for the viewers. The most difficult part of the process was actually projecting the work in 3D space without the beams of the projects being seen as well as to create the sense of it being a hologram that you can actually walk through. The whole 200 people venue also had to be decorated and installed with our major concern being safety, safety of the crew as well as the people attending the event. With thousands of watts of electricity passing through mixers, DJ equipment, projectors as well as huge sound system to accommodate the whole building with countless of wires passing through every single square meter of the venue.
Why (200 words max.)
197.
With a team of specialists we took on the challenge to make something that hadn’t been seen before. The difficulty of the work being of religious symbolism occurred to us quite quickly with the goal of the work being critical and not offensive. We tried to really instill to the crowd that the meaning behind those animations was far bigger, with a political as well as critical point of view, besides it being quite controversial at the core. The timing of the installation is quite important as it gives context to the religious symbolism in the work. At the time of the project, the church of Cyprus was “undergoing” investigation for economical as well as ethical malpractices. With the highest ranking members of the Church being found with counterfeit wealth, carrying out illegal and corrupted deals with members of the government, the army as well as the police force. The goal of the work was to imply this sort of irony in which the demon itself is seen holding out the symbol of the greek-orthodox church, while sitting on its throne with the wealth his corrupted actions had brought upon him. The investigation has since been discontinued.