Yana's Methods
//WHAT//HOW//WHY//
Balkoni is a video collage made for VR comprised solely of phone videos. For this project, I captured more than a hundred videos while in a 3-weeks quarantine after getting Covid in 2021. All the videos were taken from one and the same balcony which was my refuge in this period of isolation - a refuge from screens, from the indoors, from loneliness. My obsession with video capture combined with (or perhaps provoked by) my affinty for voyeurism resulted in an archive which constructs a world, exciting in its mundanity.
The project had quite a technical aspect to it, too, aside from its conceptual and creative challenges. The main objective was finding a way to position and pace the videos in VR in such a manner that they don't become overwhelming. Developed in the framework of a research-n-development course unit, Balkoni became my first encounter with creating VR, and the mental baggage that comes with that. Thus, after gathering and organizing all of the videos, I set out to figure out ways to make a VR video edit. I juxtaposed more dynamic cuts followed with longer videos allowing contemplation, always centering the videos in one part of the canvas, so that the viewer does not feel like they are missing out on something, and can relax into watching. I avoided the top and bottom of the 360 sphere to avoid distortion and to keep the viewer more centered. In the end, I relied on stereo and spatial sound to give cues as to where the viewer should look next. I also left the original sound of each video to transmit the actual fragmented atmosphere of living in quarantine.
I developed this project as a form of refuge and a way to keep my sanity during the extreme period that quarantine was for me. Having an almost 360 view from my apartment, I spent a lot of time observing and contemplating the world around me - quite literally, as I could only meditate on the buildings right in front of me, and on the life hapenning on their own balconies. I had never spent so much time inside - I usually can't stand a day at home without going for even a short walk. Therefore, the balcony observation became another form of stimulation where I could feel like I am part of the real world, and not just some digital ghost. Compiling the videos and creating the collage was a way to find the beauty even in this draining period, and to feel it had a purpose. It was a way to leave a trace of this time that I can communicate to people later on, and ultimately, a way of connection with others.
Hortus Conclusus 2121 is an ambient video that follows a bee on its journey through an enclosed garden space. The premise of the project was to imagine what would the garden of a developed human civilization on mars look like. The video presents an otherwordly, perhaps post-apocalyptic setting in which the viewer can immerse to enjoy a different kind of beauty.
The project was initiated as a virtual reality experience, but due to lack of time and resources, was concluded as a virtual tour of the space. Nevertheless, when planning the design, diversity in player's experience and caution towards viewer's overwhelement were taken in consideration. The preproduction process focused heavily on research about plants in space and future plans for colonization of Mars. Apart from going through a multitude of scientific papers, one of the strongest sources of information were the personal conversations of the authors with NASA project lead, Dr. Gioia Massa. Although the project had a strong scientific basis, the intention for the final piece was to be an aestheticized trip rather than a scientific illustration, which was supported by the otherwordly track by ZVUCOM.
The author's obsession with gardens and botanical spaces goes way back before she can even remember, dating perhaps to one of her first memories which was in such a space, or perhaps to one of her first favorite books, The Secret Garden. But perhaps it's the longing shared across cultures and generations, a longing for Paradise that goes beyond personal histories and complexions. The garden is a space that expresses the spirituality, aesthetics, and power dynamics of civilizations in all parts of the world and along the historical timeline, so the author found it interesting to imagine such an organic space in the most distant setting - in space. Therefore, this project is a way to channel this obsession in a more conceptual and research-based manner.
//INTERVIEW// (with Giorgos)
What are you making right now?
I'm developing a short video which is based on a video call I had with a friend that explorers her relationship with a colleague of hers. It's a rather complex relationship because my friend is a queer girl and this woman is a self-proclaimed 'proud homophobe'. So that's something that comes up into their relationship often, but then again they both managed to build their bond around that. I'm very interested in these dynamics and I wanted to explore their peculiarities.
Why did you decide on this topic?
I'm very interested in how connection develops beyond politics and beyond identity. Someone's queerness is a huge part of their identity but identity politics sometimes can really get in the way of something deeper happening. It's just interesting for me to see how the whole connection happens because it's a very dynamic process. Besides, I don't know what my opinion is exactly - should one suppress a part of themselves when they interact with someone in order for connection to develop? It happens a lot, and it happens a lot in Bulgaria where I'm from, just because everyone is xenophobic so you can't really avoid interacting within xenophobes. But in this clash a lot of depth can occur, so I just explore these dynamics.
Do you usually work with subjects of human connection and identity?
I have not explored this topic in depth before, or at least not directly. But I have a very contemplative personality, so there's such a quality to what I do inevitably. I am a very observative person and I think that this is in a way kind of searching for what is humane. I think that maybe this contemplation was the predecessor of me actually exploring human connection in depth. Before I was just doing this through observing and documenting people in their everyday lives, and now I want to explore this topic more intentionally.
So how is this different from your other works?
What is different is precisely the intention and actually just having a goal. I usually start from collecting material and then finding a common thread or theme in it. I am a very visual person, I express myself through images, be it photography or drawing. So I rarely start from a framework but rather develop it while working. And now the framework is there from the start, it's very concrete and narrative. And for me, that's very tough and I am having a hard time to work this opposite way - to have the story first, and then find the images that accompany it.
What are the challenges that you face regarding this topic?
Besides, the framework I just mentioned, it's also the vastness of this topic. Human connection encompasses so many subtopics, and even just this conversation with my friend branched off in so many directions, it was hard to focus on one aspect only. And in this hides the risk of becoming vague, of talking of too many things at once and falling into abstraction when the theme could be so personal and present in everyone's life.
Are you gonna drop the bomb? And say she's queer?
I never thought that was the bomb in this conversation - in fact I think the bomb is actually saying that the other woman is a homophobe and a proud one. Because my friend is established in the conversation as queer from the beginning, and she doesn't hide it, usually. But perhaps this is not so present in the video in its current state, I don't think it emphasizes on this enough, so I don't know if the impact of the other woman being a homophobe is strong enough. So I think the drop will be dropped, the question is how.
