Stereo 3D, polarized video projection with sound. Aluminium coated screen, polarizing filters and glasses. 17 min. Dimensions variable.
No room in Hell (Absent Qualia) was filmed in 3D video in and around Matt’s Gallery in East London. In the darkened gallery, the stereo image was projected in colour onto a purpose built reflective screen and its 3D effect was achieved using polarizing filters and glasses. The installation had a physical presence beyond the normal flatness of screen-based work. As well as funtioning within the tradition of horror and silliness associated with 3D film, No Room in Hell also called upon ideas inherent in expanded cinema.
In the video, a group of young ‘zombies’ descend on the gallery via an adjacent park and canal. They gain access to the building and set about exploring and searching for some purpose. The audience took the same route to the gallery as the zombies had and watched the film in the same space where the action concludes. ‘No Room in Hell’ had multiple references revolving around the various manifestations of ‘zombies’ in history and culture. The film referenced the perrenial stigmatisation of youth culture (and it's projected relationship with drugs), as well as the making and consuming of meaning in art. The subtitle (Absent Qualia) also pointed to a particular philosophical debate, which uses zombies as a metaphor for a critique of human consciousness in relation to artificial intelligence.
A series of twin 3D still photographs was also produced during the making of No Room in Hell (see also: Stereo photography)
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