Our increasingly digital everyday lives are creating more and more fragmented existences. This is the realm of consciousness and reality that video artist denial.of.service explores, whether it’s a smart drug trip gone horribly wrong, or stipple illustration updated for for the digital age in an abstract, erotic video. In both cases, the visuals are full of algorithmic particles and patterns, with the imagery straddling the line between 2D flatness and 3D depth.
For his latest video, for experimental black metal/harsh electronics project Crowhurst’s track “Take This Pain Away,” denial.of.service plays heavily with virtual depth. And while his last two videos presented digital topographies of sorts with their swirling surfaces, denial.of.service this time around creates morphing and oscillating landscapes of a dark and foreboding atmosphere, moving at various speeds.
The liquid fractal landscape denial.of.service creates here looks alien and highly unstable. He cuts these topographies with a footage of humanoid figure, suspended in the same black void, who seems to have some connection with the liquid terrain.
To create his video of chemical and math-induced landscapes, denial.of.service used 3DSMax/Vray, ZBrush, and Fragmentarium/3DickUlus. “Most of the fractalscapes couldn't have been created had it not been for Patryk Kizny's generosity and ingenious TerrainGen/noise code for Fragmentarium/Synthclipse,” he explains.
Overall, it’s a harrowing visual and sonic experience, but definitely one worth experiencing. Think Solaris, directed by David Lynch instead of Andrei Tarkovsky. A thing of dark and terrifying beauty.
CROWHURST _ Take This Pain Away (official video) from denial of service on Vimeo.
Click here to see more of denial.of.service’s work.
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