Infiltration

MP4; Stop motion- Clay, Balsa wood, plasticine, other mixed media, Reaper; March 2021

Infiltration is a stop motion animation where I display my continual interests in neurology. My previous piece, titled Autonomic, was based on an autonomic nervous system dysfunction and how a broken system can still be a functioning one. I focused my research on brain disorders that are diagnosed at birth and internal dysfunctions that people have and how they can affect their daily lives. 

The research for Infiltration however, is based on external forces that affect the brain and mind. I was reading “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston where a character named Tea Cake ended up getting rabies, causing him to “fear water” and “act like a rabid dog”. This sparked a curiosity in me, how can a virus make a human refuse water, a necessity for survival. I researched how rabies affects the body. It attacks the spinal cord and lies dormant until reaching the brain, where it then spreads through the saliva glands after affecting the body's ability to swallow, therefore creating hydrophobia because one can no longer drink. This intrigued me, and I went deeper into studies of viruses, molds, fungi, and other microorganisms and their nature and function. This opened up another side to the research I was looking at previously. Instead of just looking at internal effects that cause the body's inability to function properly, I was now looking at outside traumas and viruses that can leach into the body and take over.  

The set I created is a representation of one’s mind. I imagine my mind as a house. If I close my eyes and go inside, I can decipher what room I need to walk into in order to find the memories I hold from my elementary school. I compartmentalize where everything is stored in the analogy of a physical structure. The environment I created for the animation set design represents one’s mind. I looked at adobe houses and natural disaster aftermaths for inspiration when creating the building. The brick walls are broken in places but are still structurally sound, a throwback to broken but functioning structures. I chose a very old brick method while looking at modern architecture because I wanted the time period to be hazy like how time is in the mind, memories blend together and are no longer linear. By combining these different styles of old bricks, glass with no clear source, lack of industrialization, I make the scene seem unplaceable, like a memory you can’t quite put your finger on. The space is not real but a figment of an imagination, therefore I wanted to make parts unreasonable and illogical. 

The main goal for my stop-motion is to take over the space entirely by this alien-like form I’ve created, growing and securing itself to the environment I’ve produced. This foreign fungus is growing and taking over the “brain”, such as rabies does to animals and the zombie fungi does to ants. The infiltration of this virus-like mold is not only a metaphor of the physical brain, but is rhetorical for the human mind as well. How easy is it for an external force to come in and infiltrate the mind, take over our thoughts and guide our decisions? How can negativity take over and negatively affect the mind like the spores of the virus leaving stains on the wood floor of the structure? The form of the virus was inspired by reference material such as the inside of bones, cells, microorganisms, and trypophobic textures. The hue of each individual virus is important, each form needs a makeup of different colors in order to function. This goes into the basic ideas of Darwin and the need for genetic diversity. As someone who has grown up in a diverse environment, I find that diversity is very important in my life and for humans to grow. If everything's the same it’s boring, humans need variety. By having these different colored beings come together in order to grow and release their liquid, it brings in my personal beliefs on society's need for diversity and how it impacts individual growth.

The relationship between sound and imagery is also an important aspect of my work and creative process. Sound influences the imagery and the imagery influences the sound, creating more emotional ties to the audience. By having the collaboration of sound and visuals, a video is able to make a deeper impact on a person's emotions.