ALMOST THERE

With her film installation ALMOST THERE Tara Fallaux investigates the interaction between 2- and 3dimensional realms, merging a cinematic analogue special effect from early 1900 theatre and visuals inspired by early cinema in newly created backgrounds.

A key aspect is the integration of a filmed floating female body. Placed within the centuries old theatrical contraption the floating body suggests a hologram, using the old Peppers Ghost Technique of reflection. Apart from the technical and aesthetic this is the philosophical theme that Tara explores: the ungraspable of the seemingly concrete. In this case the juxtaposition between a moving ephemeral body and the still environment in which it is projected. In the age of bewildering digital realities Tara pays tribute to the transparency of analogue special effects. What stuns here is the magic of simplicity.

Artist statement : The purpose of the installation is twofold, both personal and socio-political.

‘After the sudden self chosen death of a close friend my life felt literary up side down. She could no longer see a way out of the tangled webs of her dark thoughts. Life was weighing her down. This devastating incident got me thinking philosophically and artistically about notions of escapism and weightlessness. Longing for freedom without weight. But at the same time being stuck in a limbo.’

Looking at social developments one sees that more and more young people suffer depression. Contributing to this problem are the overwhelming possibilities of ‘perfect’ choices, performance-stress, even as the younger generation also struggles with urbane problems of stress at work, lack of housing, lack of direction, and of a sense of belonging. And government support to tackle mental health issues dwindles.

The near impossibility of escape has fed the age-old hope of salvation from worldly heaviness through magic. The allure of the supernatural, the enchanting, the inexplicable is seen in dreams of levitation, flying, floating. Freed from earthly constrictions.

For the accompanying soundscape Tara collaborated with musician Sterre Konijn. They decided to work with the theme of air and references to the early cinema era. Sterre composed a soundtrack mainly using her own voice and whispers together with the sound of the Theremin. The Theremin, invented in 1920, is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer. It is played in the air. It is the only instrument in the world that can be played without needing to be touched. The magnetic field is changed by the varying distances between the two hands.