APORIA was created in a specific city, yet speaks to the phenomenon of rapid

growth being experienced in many urban locations around the world. When

surrounded by such an environment, the cultural and physical landscape feels

stretched to its limits. Reality exists in a continuum between construction and

destruction. It is a constant state, a fluid abstraction, where change itself seems to

be the alpha and omega. A desire to explore the underpinnings of such an

environment, and how it demonstrates itself on one’s psyche, is at the core of this

work. APORIA is the culmination of this effort, a dreamlike narrative pieced

together from the observed landscape. It is a fictional manifestation of my own

subjugation, devoid of any specific time or place, both surreal and familiar.

The title, APORIA, is a term extracted from the early dialogues of Socrates. Many

were described as “aporetic” because they left the interlocutor in a purgative state

of confusion about the concept being discussed. The confounding nature of the

urban landscape and the cognitive gymnastics needed to justify or rationalize it

leads the viewer in and out of this purgative realm.

APORIA does not presume to answer questions regarding the ills of the urban

environment. Rather than attempt to make an explicit point, it presents a

fictional narrative in an effort to approach a feeling that something is amiss.

There is a limit to what can be observed in an environment so deeply woven with

complexity. For the most part, we are disconnected from the underlying

mechanisms of the system in which we live. APORIA attempts to highlight this

disconnect and struggle for understanding and connection. Perhaps in doing so,

it can provide a brief glimpse into what lies underneath the system where the

collective psyche of a population finds its covert habitation.