Hello, CINE-GT 2162-GALAXY !
The Post Human Condition in contemporary Science Fiction Cinema.
My name is accordingly to NYU “VVZ203” and I am currently scrolling within my Masters in Cinema Studies at Tisch this Spring of 2019. Originally I am from Amsterdam, the Netherlands where I finished my Bachelors degree in Graphic Design (2016, ArtEZ University of the Arts, NL) and currently also am enrolled within my second year of an additional MA art program in Amsterdam (Sandberg Institute of the Arts, Gerrit-Rietveld Academy) in Design, Film and Propaganda rephrased under the members of “Shadow Channel” which I am aimed to graduate this June.
Besides my Dutch roots, my proxy life has been mostly stated in Miami, Florida. As for now I feel a duplicity of presence in both geographies of Manhattan and Amsterdam.
During my studies I had a strong focus on my daily immersive and personal relationship with technology, the relation between the physical and the virtual world, the verbal language of technology and how to communicate with “them” when seen as another alienated species.
I am fascinated with the genre of Sci-Fi, but am still wondering if The Past can be seen more Science Fiction than the Future.
My favorite Sci-Fi scenes remain to be:
- Arrival (2016, Denis Villeneuve), “Proper introduction”
On Communication
- Stranger Things (2016, the Duffer Brothers), “The Upside Down map”
On Maps
- Simone (2002, Viktor Taransky), “Sunrise Set”
On Avatars
Within my first semester at Cinema Studies I took my first course given by professor Marina Hassapopoulou called “Interactive History: Digital Media as Cultural Memory Prostheses”. I finalised the course with an anecdote upon the interconnectivity fo “the Magenta Light” a form of creating Intimacy through Technology while being located elsewhere (vvz203.wordpress.com). Within the J-Term break I wrote my Thesis (for Shadow Channel) on this phenomenon of the Magenta Light in questioning the Ontology of Presence as understood today (also relating back to capturing myths and spirits as for Amazon Alexa being the goddess of the Home). Arguing a multiplicity of being physically present in relation to the Internet of Things. Which I think becomes very relatable to the syllabus (Time-Travel // Divided Minds // Multiplicity)
As for now I would like to take this semester into a deeper drift in questioning the relation between what is Science-Fiction or when Fiction actually becomes Science and vice versa.
To state an anecdote: I was sitting besides a young woman in the subway the other day, approximately my age, as we somehow delved into a conversation about our homes of origin and our stay in New York. She told me she grew up in India. She was passionate about dance and wanted to become a performer. Briefly she described her activities of her day, as she informed me about her studies as she also is a student at NYU. She talked about controlling air, in a way she almost performed it. I wasn’t sure what she meant as later she remarked that her family encouraged her to become an engineer. As for today she was literally writing down the code to control “physical air” of the 5G network. Controlling the flow of wifi to be physically bended through the micromillimeter waves of the network. As her task is to decide the correct directions of this fleeting connection.
The notion of “controlling air” for me was a form of fiction which she turned into a scientific gesture.
The most Sci-Fi thing I ever did:
“The Dish” – Stanford University (2017). “2 the moon and back”, bouncing my name of against the Moon.
Currently I am working together with W6YX (Radio Club Palo Alto) and PI9CAM (Radio Club NL) to interconnect timezones of “9 hours for you, 9 hours for me, 9 hours for us both” through literally connecting both stations through chatboxes bounced back against moon.
Besides the idea of a “Vampire Cyborg” and mortality draws my fascination in many ways.
vvz204 