2014

THENEWMYTHOLOGY.NET is an epic poem that pulls its text from the Wikipedia entries on Dante’s Inferno, Buddhism and articles based around the concept for each section of the poem. Instagram photos found through hashtags matching the title of each section are used to illustrate the poem.

#THENEWMYTHOLOGY exhibition was the first temple of THENEWMYTHOLOGY, taking inspiration from Dante’s Purgatorio, Buddhist traditions and Kanye West’s Yeezus Tour show. Light is shone down onto the temple through a video projection based on a Buddhist mandala, constructed with six second video loops from Vine. Body parts collected from Instagram pictures are organized into mandalas behind reflective plexiglass. Embedded in the partial octagonal wall, they tell stories of the user. In the middle stands an eight-sided experience wheel, like the Buddhist prayer wheel. As it spins, it presents its surroundings back to itself, an experience experiencing itself. The user stands in front of the wheel and sees their reflection projected in the same way as everything else. Much as the keys to passing Peter’s Gate represent reconciliation and salvation, the keys to this gate are reflection and authenticity. On the opposite wall is a wooden construction in the shape of a ziggurat or a terraced mountain, Dante’s mountain of Purgatory. Eight unsteady stairs lead to the top of this mountain. The user is reflected here through a computer screen as a stream of selfies covers their face. Through the use of a Kinect, the selfie stream finds, covers and follows the user’s face, forcing the user to see their self through the selves of other users, the they-self. This interaction becomes Dante at the top of Purgatory witnessing a procession of mythic symbols. Here the user comes face to face with the possibility of authenticity.