REFERENCE: A Distorted Perception

Requiem for a Dream (2000) directed by Darren Aronofsky

Garden State (2004) directed by Zach Braff

Black Swan (2011) directed by Darren Aronofsky

Keira Knightley featured in Chanel Advert

Coined by philosopher and theorist Michel Foucault, heterotopia refers to spaces of otherness. That are neither here or there, both physical and mental, much like the moment you see yourself in the mirror. What you see in a mirror does not exist, however the object of a mirror does exist in solid reality and offers us a perception of truth. It's a parallel space that only seems to exist inbetween, an uneasy balance of mind and matter.

REFERENCE: Lost in Space

Garden State (2004) directed by Zach Braff

What interests me the most is always the human and the psychological behind the façade of surface. I like the idea that someone can become so immersed, so lost in their environment, they barely, if at all exist. You can't distinguish yourself from the world or from anything else anymore. I look at our struggle with alienation and isolation in society, our tendency to become faceless and hidden.

"...in such a press of humanity -of strangers- individuals become as memorable as lampposts. Certain people retreat gladly into a world of anoymity, others enter that world and despair." -P91, Too Close for Comfort by Paul M. Insel & Henry Clay Lindgren

Helena Almeida