The Great Beyond
2018film
single channel
16:9, color, sound, 29’42’’
concept by Ada Favaron
texts and script by Luisa Traumann
featuring Anastasia Shin
The artwork investigates on a visual and conceptual level the design elements and the montage techniques that are consistently present in conspiracy theory videos on the web. The research that goes along with it is aimed to understand the psychology related to conspiracy thinking as well as the persuasive and manipulative power of moving image and sound combined, in relation to the modern concepts of authenticity and post-truths.
“The Great Beyond” consists of two parts integrated with each other, creating a single channel film.
The first one (the Encyclopedia) is a taxonomy of conspiracies’ videos visual grammar being deconstructed and classified: a visual essay divided in chapters that works on two layers, visual and sound, both featuring well-known hoaxes and recurrent montage techniques used by truthers. The categories in which the Encyclopedia is composed are the following: glitches, collage, repetitions, typography, zooming, simulations, websites, talking heads, pointers, printed documentation, arrows, circles, slowmotion.
The second part (the Meta-conspiracy), a triptych of short clips presenting a fictional character, Carol Thiel, presenting her own theory about famous conspiracists and an alleged group of Illuminati designers that manages to deceive the masses publishing content on Youtube channels.
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The Great Beyond from ada favaron on Vimeo.
