Technospiritual Visionary (2024)

Agata Konarska in collaboration with Jakub Kasecki

Technospiritual visionary is a project created by Agata Konarska and Jakub Kosecki, within which two artistic people create both material and virtual experiences, based on the reinterpretation and recycling of archaic cultural contexts, searching for new applications for them. The sources of inspiration for the activities of this duo are the activities of the C.C.R.U collective, theory fiction and archaeology, and mythologies of ancient cultures.

The Book of the Dead: Virtual Gates - This is a debut project created on the basis of a theoretical/autotheoretical method, which involves the implementation of concepts invented in the distant past and their implementation in the present context. In this activity, based on Egyptological and archaeological sources, we look in particular at the concept of identity in ancient Egypt and try to compare it with today's state of affairs. The ancient Egyptian multi-layered soul is associated with the modern stratification of the posthuman person on the bureaucratic, personal, psychological and legal levels. We do not simply exist in society, but our existence takes place through a number of different documents, accounts, avatars, profiles. Similarly, in ancient Egypt, at the ontological level, we consist of nine parts, each of which has a different role, the name itself was also something that embodied social existence in Egypt at that time.

The installation features two main components: an animatronic priest acting as a projector, displaying a 360° video of the viewer's death and funeral, and a large-scale wall display for a gaming experience inspired by 'blind gates.' This cybernetic ritual, drawing from ancient Egyptian mythology, guides the player on an interactive journey to the afterlife. The immersive world combines modern technology metaphors with the Book of the Dead's symbolism, reflecting on our current social reality. Player data collection at the start shapes the narrative and gameplay. The project aims to fulfill the ancient dream of a social reality and embodies the prophetic vision of the 'Western land' in ancient civilizations.

Genre
interactiveInstallationSculpture