POP PSYCHOLOGY


POP PSYCHOLOGY


This past year has been a period of deep reflection. At a time of serious social, political and economic upheaval, triggered by an ongoing pandemic, each and every one of us has been pushed to confront the systems, structures and spaces we inhabit—both as a community and as individuals. Gathering in clubs, theaters, galleries, even our homes has been deemed unsafe. With that we have been forced to look even further inward, into our hearts and our minds, while developing new spaces of energy, action and connection on the internet. Creamcake’s “Pop Psychology” video program is one such productive and proactive outcome. 

Dropping online at 3hdTV from July 15 to September 15, the series of film commissions traces the unresolvable tensions between political activism and noise, empowerment and performativity, consumer culture and self-care. Four artists and collectives from London, Berlin, New York and Changchun, China, make these points of friction visible as therapeutic drives of sustainability and empowerment. Fauness presents an experimental twist on the aesthetic of the pop music video, her spritely alter-ego ‘Plexaure’ traveling through English countryside with her wild pony companions. Alice Z Jones x Dis Fig's collaborative audiovisual project takes the notion of a “casting-off” as a starting point to explore bodies in crisis, theories of dissent, and potential healing practices through art and music making. unseelie lead a guided meditation inspired by the Brood X cicada swarms, and Yikii shoots, directs and edits a visual accompaniment to six of her tracks exploring the connection between personal loneliness and society.

As our primary modes of organizing have been taken from us with social distancing and self-isolation protocol, the question has become, “where do we go now?” There have been benefits to this moment of crisis and consequent self-examination and “Pop Psychology” attempts to find and reveal them. After all, joy is an integral part to maintaining mental health, and now is the time to find it through music.

CAST-OFF
Alice Z Jones × Dis Fig


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Sep 15    --:--:--

CAST-OFF
Alice Z Jones × Dis Fig

Dropping as part of the 10th Berlin Network of Independent Project Spaces and Initiatives award ceremony and Berlin Art Week—opening September 15 —the interdisciplinary platform will present one of a four-part video series. Alice Z Jones x Dis Fig’s "CAST-OFF" (2021) premieres and screens at Mitte KUNSTPUNKT BERLIN until September 26. The audiovisual work will be accessible via Creamcake’s 3hdTV channel at the same time, which will act as an online stage, of sorts, becoming a celebratory space for support, community and pop appreciation, in all its diverse and exciting forms. “Pop Psychology” traces the unresolvable tensions between political activism and noise, empowerment and performativity, consumer culture and self-care, making these points of friction visible as therapeutic drives of sustainability and empowerment. Joy is an integral part to maintaining mental health, and now is the time to find it through music.


"CAST-OFF" is a collaborative audiovisual project exploring bodies in crisis, theories of dissent, and potential healing practices through art and music making. Taking Japanese choreographer Tatsumi Hijikata’s notion of a “casting-off” of society-approved notions of identity as a starting point, artist Alice Z Jones and producer Dis Fig (aka Felicia Chen) draw inspiration from butoh, shamanistic rituals, cyberpunk and the techno-poetics of Afrofuturism. They imagine possibilities for fracture—if only temporary—from a past, present and foreseeable future of the affliction of existing under oppressive systems. From social injustice, sickness, and technologically-enhanced violence to the physical and mental weight, an ever-increasing pressure put on those who exist on the margins, “CAST-OFF” converses with its audience through a combination of found footage, improvisational performance, and hypnotic and transitory sound. It moves through a myriad of histories, into the present day, while centering liminal and peripheral states of existence. Are we done yet?

Mixed and mastered by Theo Karon

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PLEXAURE'S TOUR DIARY
Fauness


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Jul 15    --:--:--

PLEXAURE'S TOUR DIARY
Fauness

"Plexaure's Tour Diary" (2021)

Shortly before the first Lockdown was implemented in London, Fauness staged a performance at Hyperdub-run club night Ø in the guise of Plexaure, her alter-ego. An immortal sea nymph from ancient Greece who has survived through to the present day, she has been forced, due to climate change and ecocide, to abandon her original habitat. ‘Plexaure's Tour Diary’ is an experimental twist on the aesthetic of the pop music video, in an account of what happened to this sprite after COVID-19 forced public spaces to empty, shops to close, and human beings to go indoors.

Plexaure travels alone through the English countryside, the wild ponies she meets along the way her only companions. The original soundtrack is a poetic reflection on the objectification of natural scenery, particularly in relation to the pervasive rediscovery/reenchantment of "the outdoors" during the Pandemic.

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鏡中闇夜 MIRROR/ERROR
Yikii


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Aug 03    --:--:--

鏡中闇夜 MIRROR/ERROR
Yikii

Shot, directed and edited by Yikii, "鏡中闇夜mirror/error" (2021) concerns the connection between personal loneliness and society via visual accompaniment to six of her own tracks. The film title directly translates to “dark night of the mirror” in Chinese, where the artist abandons the notion of solitude as relational, instead exploring an alienation completely detached from other people. In doing so, "鏡中闇夜mirror/error" is a vision of an ‘apocalyptic loneliness’ completely absent of another human being. 

The video is replete with metaphors and fast-switching shots, while the dissonant music of tracks like “Don't Forget the Butterfly” and “Poisonous Air 空气毒性” present a flashback of destructive and desolate images, while alluding to the reflective “gaze of others” avoided. At the same time, Yikii emphasizes that such aloneness is not a negative adjective. Clear withdrawal has its own naturally calming power, while still carrying with it a fear of the unknown. Both the sun and moon shine on earth at the same time, after all. In the summer, the sunlight pours gently in the garden where flowers are in full bloom, but the mirror reflects the sticky darkness of the night.

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BROOD X: A GUIDED MEDITATION
unseelie


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Sep 02    --:--:--

BROOD X: A GUIDED MEDITATION
unseelie

"Brood X: A Guided Meditation" (2021)

In summer 2021, a rare natural phenomenon is taking place. In many parts of the United States and the rest of the world, Cicadas swarm across forests, singing and buzzing with a chaotic energy. What makes this particular awakening of insects so powerful, however, is that this emergence only happens once every 17 years: Brood X. The insects emerge from the surface of the ground in hoards to announce their existential purpose of  ‘scream, fuck, die’  for several weeks before returning to the soil. This cycle of life feels akin to what many of us are facing coming out of a pandemic that has felt like eons. As we emerge from our homes, an intense energy of pressure to participate and revel in the possibilities of a “functional world” can be overwhelming. Accustomed to our burrow routines, now is the time -with the sun at full power-  to spring out, equipped with an almost uncontrollable energy.

How can we fortify our mental states while participating in this swarm of entropy?

<the answer lies within>  We chose to do a guided meditation accompanied by music and sound design; photos and illustrations will provide softly stimulating visuals. The listener will be guided out of their hole and into an intense new reality. This meditation will help them find their frequency in the midst of Brood X and ground into the present moment; emerge with a hum.  

Credits
Script by Kodi Fabricant
Voice Acting by Christina Haines
Music by sentinel & Dasychira
Sound design & field recordings by sentinel, QUALIATIK & Dasychira
Video editing by QUALIATIK
Video footage by Zach Wimberly, sentinel & Dasychira
Voice Recording by Sam Garrett
Audio mixing by sentinel

unseelie

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