THE OBLIVION OF MIRRORS
The Oblivion of Mirrors is an audiovisual project set in the Peruvian Amazon that connects the past and the present through documentary, fiction and 3D animation. It consists of two parts: a film and a series of digitally enhanced photographs, which together reflect on the Western gaze and the extractivist practices that have dominated the region, particularly in regards to the rubber boom of the 19th and 20th centuries. By means of an immersive audiovisual experience and the manifestation of specters from a tormented past, the project proposes a conversation around how the region has been historically forgotten and how we tend to see this space as alien.
Shot from a first-person perspective, without any dialogue and guided only by the sounds of nature, the film presents an exploration of the jungle from dawn to dusk. Our introduction to this space is slow and contemplative, similar to that outsider’s gaze that has taught us to desire it without respecting it and to conquer it for our benefit. Slowly, the film subverts this gaze by introducing an uncanny element to the space, an ethereal presence, which then takes the form of 3D specters during the night. The photographs, on the other hand, have been enhanced with the same 3D figures. These images propose a visual language based on the contrast between the natural and the artificial, speaking about our ability to forget and our fear to face that which we don’t want to see.
This project has received the support from Centro de Residencias Artísticas, Matadero Madrid, Spain.
Exhibitions:
The Oblivion of Mirrors, Centro Cultural Las Cigarreras (Alicante, Spain)
Butterflies count not months but moments, and have enough time, EU-ASEAN Cultural Festival
Lo único que vale la pena empezar: el fin del mundo, nada menos, HAMACA: Moving image platform, Spain
Screenings:
Festival Márgenes (Madrid, Spain)
Beijiing Short Film Festival (Beijiing, China)
FIVA International Video Art Festival (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Lima Alterna Film Festival (Lima, Peru)
Awards:
6-month residendy grant, Centro de Residencias Artísticas, Matadero Madrid
Jury Special Mention, Lima Alterna International Film Festival
Download project presentation