Film, 2024

Although I specify this space as a film, this definition acts as a starting point for the viewer’s experience. The film suggests an alternative space where scepticism is less powerful, where the existence of an omnipotent computer asking the simple question “how do you feel?” is possible. It is as if it can decode people’s feelings and give them a one-word answer. Otherwise, it would be absurd to believe that a computer, so fundamentally alien to emotions, could suddenly become a direct translator of feelings. But if it is a film, then is the person who comes to the scene part of the film, or just an observer? It is the individual experience of the person is what creates the plot for the imaginary film. I distinguish several components in the installation, although they can be broken down into smaller parts: 1. Place, and how its recognisability affects the further experience or feeling. 2. The phenomenon of feeling translation into words or through computer system and the validity of this event. The confrontation with a personal question, the process of naming the answer and perceiving the result. 3. The gesture of distancing the printer from the computer, its interpretative significance in interaction with other elements. In this case, the white monolith and the act of the paper falling appears, the computer language is emphasised. 4. Documenting that creates a narrative through additional symbols that only extend the imagination rather than lead to an objectively accurate understanding. All words that are printed out are one-way answers, it’s impossible to know exact feeling behind those abstract words except to those who wrote them and know which paper was theirs. All these components come together in this emerging film. Their importance here depends on my choice, and I’m now presenting a neutral version where all elements are equal in my eyes. If one of these elements were to be highlighted, the project would turn into a thing only about that one aspect, and the focus would shift away from finding associations in the overall context – the existing scene of the film would collapse. However, in making a freely interpreted film, I cannot claim that all these things will make the space equally meaningful to my perception for others, because I have distinguished the relationship of the newcomer to the installation as the foundation of the project. The personal experience or feeling of the protagonist is important in this film, because without it the space does not exist as a living organism, the participant cannot experience space impartially. It requires an arbitrary engagement, participation or at least being present in the scene and reflecting on it. The film here remains an abstract concept like all other symbols in space. Although the literal meaning of my film definition is not in the dictionary, if it were a film, such a thing would be possible. This film asks questions, not answers them. Part of the project is an interactive computer program that asks that personal question “how do you feel?”. After typing in the answer, an algorithm I developed selects one word from the Institute of the Lithuanian Language’s “Current Lithuanian Dictionary”, whose definition is most similar to the feeling expressed, and prints out that result. This is a site-specific installation only presented during the VAA Graduation Show 2024 exhibition in Vilnius, Malūnų g. 3. Depending on the exhibition location, the project would drastically change, since it is one of the main components of this film. So, the film scene is as it is, without the possibility to recreate it the same somewhere else.

A short video in my Instagram post of paper falling. It is an important part of my installation