“Icebergs ‘ dreams” is a video i created in order to narrate the – otherwise indescribable – awkwardness and imagery of my inner life, and my perception of others’ inner lives during the year 2020. The year of the pandemic, where all the world had the chance to dive inwards, awaken and have personal and collective insights, while many restrictions grew regarding the outer world which we share.

It is a reference to our consciousness and its functions. To describe outer reality I used footage i’ve recorded during a month of camping that i’ve spent alone, in the woods of Rhodes island, Greece, in October ’20.

I used images from a previous art project i’ve called “infinity garden” to fill the left iceberg’s interior and indicate a reserved space of inner tranquility, possibility and wonder. I used my figure performing various movements in an ethereal bluish (or bright green) to symbolise the spirit, you could call it the soul, qi, inner energy, and other names, being the central figure but at the same time invisible, guiding the action in mysterious to us ways. If the viewer desires, they can too perform the movements while watching and play with it.

A purple moment at some point is an inexplicable moment of surprise, insight, fear, wonder and change, whereas the rgb palette merges into one purple palette. A moment of immense change and belief.

A star appears several times, mainly because i needed a symbol to portray the yellow, since i already got the magenta at the right corner -that is the shape/space of what i think of as the offset- and the cyan at the central figure.

Close to the ending, I used some symbols-tools found in 3d programms playing with the idea of an avatar, alternating between that and a blurry figure amongst the stars.

I used various clock-grid elements but without time involved, apart from the necessary time one needs to take in order to watch the video of course.

I chose icebergs, ice, sea, water, ethereal voices, wolves’ howling, star-falling skies, to convey the necessary background of silence, space and clarity, fear of the unknown and the wonders of nature, that i’ve experienced in the woods and metaphorically, the world might have experienced inwards when silenced into their homes due to the pandemic restrictions, since i consider grids of space and silence necessary in order for one to perceive such concepts.

Icebergs indicate too the rigidness in one’s mind that melts, then turns back to rigid, just like matters of the heart throughout our personal and human history. And a dream indicates that timeline.

Seen as a whole, one can watch the two icebergs’ underwater parts’ as two eyes opening and closing, during a period one could imagine of as a blink or a dream. From this point of view, the tips of the icebergs’ function as frozen, inexpressive eyebrows during sleep and the central figure could be seen as the nose, moving air in and out.

I added the words and the text to play further with the attention of the viewer, perhaps confuse the viewer optically enough so they manage to see my artwork as a whole, how i would like them to see it, and not to focus on its parts, which is inevitable, yet not the only way to see. Still, the text’s narration holds a meaning, like every other part, taken from an older greek writer’s short story called “the Sea” (A collection of short stories by Andreas Karkavitsas) and is discussing the matter of the trip, the wish for the voyage, of how a child watches the sailors and dreams to travel when finally situations are met and so he departs.

The intro and finale sound part is taken from styx “boat on the river” since that has been part of my camping soundtrack playing in my head.

All presented in this video, the singing, the soft exercising, dancing-like movements, colors, the whale-like speed, life in nature, water, and utmost, art, has all been parts of my healing process, in an attempt to clear my vision towards life. Life is good, says the paradise island spirit.

Special thanks to Mihalis Poniris that allowed me to use his office and equipment during the pandemic, so made it possible for me to work on that piece. And to all the special beings that surround me, for being my muses.

DATE: 2017/04/18
CLIENT: Envato
SKILLS: Photoshop