“Cavalcade,” a new video exhibition at the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society, tells a story of life incarnate.
A project by the Delhi-based Raqs Media Collective, the exhibition primarily consists of a single, 40-minute film consisting of imagery generated by artificial intelligence that “morphs into a congregation of figures that emanate from dreams, myths, and speculations,” according to the exhibition description.
At one moment in the film, some of these figure drawings are seen walking alongside the nuptial procession of Shiva and Parvati. Throughout the scenes these digital drawings of figures, creatures and shapes dance along the screen resembling a disorienting collage. The film evokes a curiosity that extends beyond the screen to the viewer, much like a burgeoning inquiry that hopes to uncover the arduous answer to a very large question :What is life beyond humanity?
It materializes the doom-laden cycle of life and routine. Featuring a gloomy soundscape with calming narration, the film summons an incessant juxtaposition comparing death to life, and past to present, with each contrived glimpse. The film, according to the exhibition description, urges the viewer to “march not in a straight line, but in spirals, in circles, in loops that twist and tangle, now, alive.”
