Translator: Camille DeMere Reviewer: Cristina Bufi-Pöcksteiner
(Video)(Light electronic music)
(Video ends)
Somehow the mind makes sense of whatever it encounters,
and it is surprisingly adept at doing this:
we turn just about everything we come across
into something meaningful, something we can relate to.
We can't help but do this.
We see faces in the clouds, figures in the stars,
and personality in shoes.
This shows our mind's eagerness to assimilate things,
even when there is no real connection.
As with the stars, the dots are there,
but we connect them in ways that are meaningful to us.
And this is what I do.
I use my phone or whatever camera I can get my hands on
to film small, everyday things,
to draw out new connections between things,
like this:
(Video) (Deep thumping bass)
(Video ends)
Or like this:
(Video) (Expansive bass and electronics)
(Video ends)
Some people, like my grandfather, ask me what my work means.
Well -
(Laughter)
it doesn't really mean anything in and of itself.
But, like a DJ, an antique collector, or a professional rugby player,
they assign the meaning to it.
Video is a particularly powerful tool for making meaning.
Have you ever caught yourself,
in a bar, or in a restaurant, staring at a screen in the background,
or switching on the screen in order to switch off?
(Video)
When we watch TV, we are provided with a carefully constructed simulation,
and all we are required to do is sit back, relax,
and let our minds be led along a path of expectation and fulfilment.
Like this.
Were you expecting something?
(Laughter)
Something I learned while teaching
is that, contrary to my expectations,
students often learn less from video material.
And I think this is because there is less room left for their engagement.
We've become so used to reading visual cues
that shots in films have become shorter and shorter.
And on top of our growing visual literacy,
our ability to represent things
is bringing us closer and closer to a virtual, immersive reality.
But it seems that, often,
the more convenient the watching, the more complacent the viewer.
Now, I started by saying that there is another way of looking at looking.
Sometimes, it is actually up to the viewer to make sense from nonsense,
to determine what is seen.
And it is this creative potential that fascinates me.
But these two ways of seeing don't only apply to videos.
I'd like to suggest
that, in the same way that we behave in audio/visual environments,
we seek meaning in our lives and in the world around us.
(Video)
I'd like to suggest that the same difference applies
in a truly immersive reality ... this one.
Much like the way in which we watch series,
we subscribe to ways of seeing the world.
And these subscriptions offer us
a sense of direction and a sense of comfort
while requiring a degree of faith and surrender.
And these packaged, polished stories
are the ones that we tell ourselves to explain the inexplicable:
why we are here,
what we should do,
and why our loved ones die.
(Video)
These inherited networks of meaning are convenient scaffolds
to help us make sense of a chaotic, confusing world,
a world unedited,
where we're not quite sure who the heroes and the villains are,
and where the consequences are raw and real.
But while these scaffolds may be useful,
they can also obstruct our vision of the world
and our ability to see other people's perspectives.
We interpret things in a way that suits us,
that fits in with our experiences and our expectations.
We project, or we superimpose, our desired reality onto this reality
and then try our best to blend the two.
Instead of just switching through the channels
searching for sense,
we can create our own.
Thank you.
(Applause)