artefacto collective – Week 3 – Catharsis
Jun 25, 2023
In our final week, we focused on reflecting what would be the new beginning for the protagonist. The turning point of the story, an oneiric mythical encounter, led us to the idea of introducing ‘catharsis’.
We started this process by writing individually what catharsis means to us and how to portray it in our film. Throughout the whole residency, we have been inspired by how others address the idea of conflict (agon) in different films and texts. F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Crack-Up (1945) shares the moment in which one needs to isolate and find the way to connect again with oneself without the distraction from the world outside. In the Staggering Girl (2019), Guadagnino portrays the necessity of letting out through the main character after continuously suppressing all her emotions. In Memoria (2020), Weerasethakul tells the story of a person whose main conflict is how she confuses temporalities, names, places, people, and the reality itself, as her memory fades. Through a nomadism and an eclectic way of living, she cracks in a silent way.
How can we portray conflict and catharsis through a myth? What does catharsis mean to us? In our film, the protagonist suffers from a conflict that is not noticeable at first, not expressed in a usual way, and contained yet present at all times, that slowly takes liveliness away from him. His silence and isolation demand the presence of a subtle being, probably non-human and beyond a potential conflict. In Blue Hydrangea (1906), Rilke experiences rebirth by being astonished with the blueness of a tender flower. Based on this symbolism, blue becomes the bridge between the human and the divine in our film. Upon this liberating encounter, the protagonist naturally reconnects with his appetites and desires. Transcending suffering without tragedy, he conceals himself with the world in harmony.
We are sharing here some selected glimpses of our film and graphic materials from the process of research and film-making as well as a poster. We will continue to work on editing and finalizing our film. We hope to share the final film through festivals and presentations in the near future. We would love to include Sasso Residency in this process as Agon consolidates, since it is where our myth originated. We are very grateful to have this opportunity, as it gave us the space and inspiration to create a valuable work based on our artistic practice. Grazie! Danke! Merci! Thank you!
Yunni and Bernardo