We will discover how the birth of art and the creation of images coincided with the advent of shamanic technologies and rites catalysed by altered states of consciousness. We will follow the trajectory of these primordial forms of creativity and worship that gradually shaped the evolution of our modern soul and culture, including our experience of cinema. We shall examine the notions of the filmmaker as an initiating shaman, and the artist-shaman as a carer of consciousness. Moreover, we will study the principles of the ritualistic form in film and art as theorised and practised by the legendary filmmaker Maya Deren.
Humanity’s growing reliance on digital technologies has been amplified by COVID-19. To understand the intricate relationship between technological progress, telematic culture and the evolution of consciousness in a 21st century framework, we will be introduced to the Tao of Technoetics as a philosophy and a way of art and life. Unlike many innovations in media arts, techno-noetic sensibility seeks to heal and adjust the body and mind of all that is alive and is an integral part of the planetary and cosmic environment.
In alliance with this theme, we shall proceed to study the Overview Effect (OE) as a techno-noetic, transpersonal and paradigm shifting phenomenon through a curated presentation of pioneering art/science and technology projects, films, and Virtual Reality. Moreover, OE will be explored in the context of transpersonal psychology, consciousness studies, as well as its applications in holistic therapies.
Emphasis will be given to the analysis of artworks and projects that explore participation, the body-mind relations, the primacy of consciousness, field consciousness, and the altered-state of communitas.