ꪖꪶρꫝꪖBET 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 ΉΣΛVΣПƧ
This body of work functions as a laboratory for the fusion of two disparate systems of belief: an epistemological simulation of the stars and the raw convergence of lived experience. By rendering the cosmos not as celestial bodies but as data points within a human-made lens1, the work mirrors Jean Baudrillard’s "hyperreal," where the simulation of the stars—the map—precedes and replaces the actual territory of the night sky. This interplay is defined by a dialectic between the Solar (the tangible, illuminated presence) and the Lunar (the subconscious, intangible void). While the Solar represents the phenomena we can measure, the Lunar invokes the Kantian noumena, representing the "thing-in-itself" that remains forever beyond the reach of our sensory apparatus. Within this tension, words collide and images evaporate, echoing John Berger’s observation that our "way of seeing" is constantly manipulated by what we believe, leading to a "mystification" where the original subject is lost to its own representation. This simulation further investigates the dissonance of the (in)tangible through the masks we choose to wear—the interfaces we adopt to navigate what Lewis Mumford termed the "Mega-machine."2 These masks act as the final bridge between the mechanical grid of the simulated universe and the organic, fragile pulse of human presence, suggesting that in an age of total technical efficiency, our personas are the only remaining artifacts of the self.
1 This refers to the scientific frameworks that prioritize the quantifiability of the universe over direct, unmediated observation, effectively turning the stars into a text to be read rather than an event to be felt.
2 The masks in these works are presented as survival tools within the "Mega-machine"—Mumford’s term for the social and technological systems that demand human beings act as predictable, mechanical components. The mask is where the "in(tangible)" human hides from the system.
In collaboration with Alana Kailass.
