Blue pt. 2, 2019, virtual reality project
Blue Pt. 2 is the second video in a series of works that question religious perception through artistic inquiry, history, and visual and auditory illusions. I was particularly interested in the history acamedian empire c. 500BC, the reign of Cyrus the Great, who is largely understood to be a benevolent concour. The idea of benevolence in conquest was not something that I thought could sit comfortably with one another. King Cyrus during his reign expanded the Achaemenid Empire to the largest the world had ever seen expanding from modern day Turkey,through Jerusalem, and to western part of India.
King Cyrus is mentioned several times throughout Abrahamic Religious Text.As most persian of that era King Cyrus practiced Zoroastrianism, the religion that most theologians believe to have sparked the Abrahamic faiths. And although he was a conqueror and not some who believed in Abrahamic Gods , the story of his conquest over the Babylonian Empire in 538 BC famously secured Cyrus reign over the largest empire to date and expanded his territory in order to increase power and wealth. Allowed the captives to return back to their tribes. Famously, in the Abrahamic text, this switch of regime and story of conquest, is taken up by the Jews. In their telling, Their God sent King Cyrus down to free them, he is the agent of the Lord.
To me, this retelling or “perception” shifting of reality is rather fascinating and is a point of inquiry for me. In contemporary times, the area the Achaemenid once stood is highly contentious space with numerous conflicts over land, migration, and forced relocation and many of which can be sourced to the religious tales and historical legacy of this era. It is also interesting how many of these legacy, particularly the religious ones, have been displaced, and taken up by many different groups around the world in order to serve particular agendas.
In Blue pt2, I have created a VR world through composite video work and 3D figure animation. The VR work is a parafiction in which I take a particular battle undergone by King Cyrus and play the role of the king, his advisory, as well as the deity that sent it all in motion. The story takes a closer examination of Siege of Sardis. In Blue pt. 2 the story is anchored and driven by the precious stone Lapis Lazuli, which is appearance resembles the earth, but was a major reason for conquest in the Achaemenid empire, that is now understood to be a stone imbued with many mythical and spiritual qualities.
Demo:
