Liminality II
This is an experimental film, which is part II of my research on liminality through, both, theory and practice. The film is made of participants' data. It is continuation of the project 'The Liminal Space'. The focus of the film is the oscillating sense of belonging that the participants share, which is triggered by the 'movement' from one place to another and from one language to another. As a result one cannot define where they belong to.
As a researcher and an artist I am intrigued in the capacity of art to give shape and tangibility to our inner worlds and to what cannot be simply articulated by words. I often seek inspiration in surrealism and adopt surrealist techniques as a means of liberating our inner-experiences without fear of the outcome.
Primary Research Methods:
Re-analysis of archived participants' data, self-reflection during film making process & film test screening followed with participants Q&A discussion.
Voiceover: participants
Film/ Motion Graphics/ Research Project
After Effects
1920x1080 | length: 3:16min | loop
2017
*Editor's Pick for March,
The John Byrne, 2019
‘It made me think that ‘home’ is only then if you never get to know that it could be different and elsewhere.’ Ruth [participant]
Abstract
“The dissertation studies the concept of liminality, which most typically is related to a transitional state with fixed in time and space, a beginning and an end. Nevertheless, according to archived participants’ data, the thesis suggests subjective liminality, as a type of liminality in a result of moving from one place to another, which leads to a permanent search of belonging. Moreover, the study reveals that the oscillating sense of belonging draws a pattern in time, which unveils the structure of the in-between experience. Based on the characteristics of the life in-between the thesis offers a film structure resembling subjective liminality and in this way providing a different experience for the spectator. Exploring liminality as a filmic structure requires a methodology, which allows intangible experiences to be audio-visually depicted through film form and content. Hence, the thesis proposes surrealism as a primarily method due to its focus on inner-experiences as processes and their research through practice.
Identifying the patterns of subjective liminality and its structure, the thesis then reanalyses the materials form Major Project via a transmedia process, in order to approach the data afresh through surrealist techniques. The test screening, as part of the new primary research, discloses the film medium as a mediator of the in-between experience. By bringing together theoretical and practical approaches, about and through liminality, the thesis reveals an alternative approach towards filmmaking and research.”
Elina Karadzhova, About and Through Subjective Liminality: The Experience of The Liminal as a Storytelling Structure in Filmic Practices, (MA thesis), 2017