Guided Meditation for Fantasies of Violence (2022)
HD digital video with sound (23:09)
Guided Meditation for Fantasies of Violence searches for ways to metabolize the fears that have taken up residence in the body. The audience is led through a series of guided visualizations and prompts for contemplation, evocative of late-night YouTube comforts and self-help cassettes, but without an avoidant optimism that turns away from the realities of embodied pain. Divided into sections, the work moves through the four elements – an invocation. This work premiered at the 32nd Onion City Experimental Film + Video Festival at Chicago Filmmakers in April 2022. I’ll probably put the whole video up here once it’s out of the running for festivals of new work, but please note that it is really designed for a cinema viewing — or at least viewed on a large surface, sitting with other people in the dark.
Directed, written, performed, and edited by Sid Branca
Additional voice: Andrew Cutler // Additional camera: Nic Murphy // Nails: Gigi Lira // Special thanks: Julian Flavin