The aphotic zone is the deep and dark region encompassing most oceanic waters, into which light hardly penetrates. The Lithuanian artist and filmmaker Emilija Škarnulytė has made a hypnotic film, somewhere between documentary and imaginary account, in which the oddness of the underwater world is confronted with the sonic landscape of a distant civilisation.
Apr 2022
Data is not an abstract concept. It is an object on Earth. As the limitations of data retention in normal environments become more apparent, given the exponential growth of data created, entities that control cloud servers seek more and more novel means of storage. The deep oceanic environment is paradoxical. It offers temperature control, predictable patterns, and insulation from human error and the seasonal vicissitudes of climate above mean sea level. It is also a black box. Without close human contact, subject to unknown risks, ranging from marine fouling by invertebrate lifeforms and chemical reactions to unpredictable seismic events, new vulnerabilities emerge.
Jan 2023
A visual odyssey of Sun Ra concepts through their followers - Marshall Allen and Abshalom Ben Shlomo. The film follows Sun Ra Arkestra band members and their journey across the desert, a promised land where Sun Ra once created his identity. Navigating through an astro-galactic world of sound, they find a reason to fight racism, injustice and vanity of the modern world - all through inner wisdom of music and sound. It's a story of infinite peace in a troubled world. An utopian planet where Sun Ra and his prophets celebrate the divine wealth of their spirits.
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Emilija Škarnulytė’s immersive installation is inspired by the Kaunas Tadas Ivanauskas Zoological Museum’s displays. For her performative, cinematic piece she brings together the poetic and scientific to create a sensory experience that investigates the philosophical concept of Deep Time and events on a geological scale. This story of survival through time, unfolds with the choreography of artificial lights and sounds. Škarnulytė’s work evokes time travel and can be understood as a form of archeology of the future. Here, she investigates the unknown, including pre- and post-human evolution and adaptation, the current intersecting structures of power and the devastating effects of climate change.
Jan 2021