Natal Kick, Cosmo Ground (Korea, Republic of, South Korea) by Jaeik Kim
Under the occupied shadows, floating cosmo ground, xenoliths, and the breaths perceived from all beings are increasingly coarsened by humanity’s collective experiments. This work considers all existing entities as pioneers of a sentient cosmos, thinking not only from Earth but from the universe at large, and positions both human and non-human elements as agents jointly adventuring through this unknown space, while exploring the ecological emergencies of the present.
Starting from the current moment, when space development has once again surfaced as the foremost political theme worldwide, the work engages with the pioneering momentum of the new space age. From initiatives like SpaceX’s multi-planetary civilization program, which extends fascistic projects on Earth into the cosmos, Natal Kick Cosmo Ground seeks to chart new relationships. Natal Kick articulates asymmetric finitude as the release of uneven energy during a supernova explosion, marking the death of a star once considered infinite. In contrast, humanity projects its Earth-bound modes of dominance and thought beyond the planet, spreading terrestrial conflicts and unjust hierarchies into the stars and cosmos under the infinite nominality of the commons, while actively reinforcing extractivist practices.
Contemporary society extends into a new space age through scientific production and experimentation that reach beyond the bounds of Earth. Private corporations and state governments attempting to exploit space treat its territory as an inexhaustible resource, deploying the finitude of the cosmos as a propaganda device for political ideologies that transcend national and anthropological borders. In this world, finite from the start, all agents of action may, as Latour suggests, be political agents, encompassing humans and non-humans alike. Here, cosmopolitics gestures toward a cooperative approach for addressing global crises. The work aspires to recreate our relationship with the cosmos and dreams of new political imaginaries. In doing so, it acknowledges all actors, including humans, non-humans, objects, and environments, as political agents and situates them within a shared discourse on planetary conditions.
Running time: 00:12:37
Tunnel of luv (United States) by Jeremy Pellington
An exercise in empathy. Max Azzarello passed away after a public political act of self-harm. Scrolling excerpts of Azzarello’s writings on “The Simpsons” and footage collected from rented Tesla cars document a U.S. landscape that gives rise to conspiratorial thought, an open society at the turn of an openly present oligarchy.
Running time: 00:17:10
Dowsing (United States) by Tim Feeney
Ten repetitive sonic interventions within the eroded landscapes of the Burren, County Clare, Ireland.
These occur at sites of local “anti-monuments:” a kilometers-long, natural limestone pavement high above Galway Bay; stone farm walls and remnants of circular structures on hillsides; cairns near a shoreline; a field of glacial boulders interrupted by a road smashed from the surrounding stone formations, in forced public work by the starving during the Great Hunger of 1845 to 1852. These structures speak to both the passage of geologic time, and the care and efforts of human survival beginning in the Neolithic period and tended through the present, though local history at each site may be lost, or unrecorded.
These are introduced in title cards in English, italicized as a term in a language foreign to the observer, and in Irish in plain font, as in an observer’s native language.
From one perspective, a sonic divining or physical research into the properties of land, space, light, and time in these locations; from another, an attempt as an “Irish-American” to reckon with language, archaeology, and history felt as formative but inarticulable without lived context.
After a point, you can only ask the stone so many questions, and sometimes you can only hear your own voice in response.
Running time: 01:38:30
Hairy Dreams (Canada) by Lina Cruz
Hairy Dreams evokes the interior world of a lonesome yet carefree character. Through words and movement, this is a visual abstract tale, taking place in a white cave-like space made of paper. Within this sort of origami igloo, a surrealist puzzle of images portrays the everyday routine of a diligent being. Through various incongruent actions, the character assembles and disassembles repeatedly its interior translucent world. In this quest for an interior castle, time is always present, haunting yet of precious companionship. The daily routine eventually leads to the ultimate goal: the need to be fed in order to keep the dream flowing. Towards the end of the cycle, in a sort of "oneiric" and liberating flight, the character swiftly disappears into the paper walls of its imaginary castle.
Running time: 00:08:57
Tangle (Belgium) by Carla Hoogewijs, Frank Stevens
Tangle is a multimedia film blending vivid imagery, haunting words, and evocative soundscapes to delve into the core questions of human existence. Structured as a monologue in five chapters, it begins with a single breath of steam and culminates in the miracle of cell division, symbolizing the cycle of life and death. Through themes of chaos versus order, the yearning for self-expression, and the boundless symbolism of the sea, the film becomes an invitation to reflect on life’s tangled essence. A collaboration between Carla Hoogewijs, whose lyrical prose grapples with existential wonder, and Frank Stevens, whose striking visuals echo the mystery of the human condition, Tangle is as poetic as it is profound—a journey through the beauty and harshness of being alive.
Running time: 00:38:39