Trajectories (2017)

A video exploring the islands on an imaginary map, while discussing maps, insular spaces, trajectories of worlds, experiences of reality, and the prevalence of journey tropes in contemporary media. (BA final year work)

​Running time: 11 min

In Mihai Băcăran's generous words:
"A work that trespasses the border between philosophy and art practice, Trajectories is a powerful reflection on the (de)construction of embodied subjectivity through the appropriation and incorporation of digital technologies. Plunged in an unfamiliar semi-fictional environment that re-mixes through digital technologies the embodied experience of traveling through Japan – the experience of Japanese culture imbued with expectations themselves resulted from a technologically mediated (de)construction – Szeman’s work subverts the common popular culture topic of the journey to the Orient in search of a true inner self. The embodied subject in Trajectories appears as an ongoing problem to be continuously renegotiated at the intersection of embodied sensation and screen representation. The work suggests that digital mapping technologies play an essential role in this process, resonating with Scott McQuire’s claim that recent changes in mapping practices brought on by digital mapping platforms such as Google Maps directly participate in the individuation of contemporary embodied subjectivities."
(read the full article here)