“A Life Flashed By”, an Installation of Oblivion

Jonas Escobedo
Sep 4, 2018 · 3 min read

It seems that one will never be able to grasp his or her own life- perception and memory are too flawed. I’ve developed a maddening dissatisfaction of human inability to grasp the contents and the meaning of life, if not in our hands at least in our my minds, yet our tools for doing so are merely a fleeting glimpse into any of it. So, I want to play with those dreams of capturing it, to try my best to create it from this side of the bridge. I am titling the project, “A Life Flashed By”.

I aim to create oblivion- the event horizon of this dimension into the unknown latter. By using mirrors, fabrics, lights, projectors, and fans, I want to be able to toss viewers into a digital/physical interpretation of oblivion. As well, I want to add a personalized representation of their experience in this life to leave the viewer confused, sentimental, disoriented, and ultimately, to come to a state of otherworldly wondering and questioning. To personalize the experience, I thought to collect personal pictures/videos (20–25) from each individual to be projected onto the mirrors/fabrics, creating a dazzling and confusing array of memories — a kaleidoscope view. The viewers will either upload these images/video or they will be derived from social media platforms before viewing and stepping into the installation. I have yet to decide where to upload these personal memories too, either an app, or maybe a website. Either way, it needs to be able to connect to the device that is projecting in the installation.

A primary inspiration behind this concept are the creations of the artist, Yayoi Kusama. Kusama, through a consistent, wizard-like use of mirrors, lights, sculpture, and modern digital influences, beautifully and powerfully lays out her ideas of infinity in installations that viewers can fully immerse themselves inside of. These installations were quick to become a social media favorite. One of the themes I want to explore is, as we become more and more intertwined with technology and virtual spaces, our memories continuously laid out on digital landscapes, how will our memory be affected? What is it to remember?

Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama

I’m really excited to see how this plays out. This is something I’ve always wanted to try to understand more, maybe some lights and mirrors are a nice way to get familiar with those other sides. Stay tuned.

Jonas Escobedo

Written by

Visual and Product Design @CMCI Studio | Boulder, CO

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