"The world is round, the screen is flat..." is perhaps the most evocative line in Jeremy Cone's soundtrack for dancer Nika Antuanette's short film, HOLOGRAM. This collaboration between these two artists produces the most imaginative video to come my way during the pandemic: HOLOGRAM is both wonderfully entertaining and truly timely.
The lavender holographic image of Nika Antuanette rises onto the blank, black screen; the actual Nika greets this image of herself with a wary smile, and the two Nikas find their common ground in dance. They pick up moves from one another, and dance in sync. Meanwhile, photos of places, people, and things - typical of the images that pervade the on-line world - flow across the screen at increasing speed.
The dancer and her double continue to dance, becoming competitive. The real Nika begins to look frazzled; her energy flags while her virtual counter-part remains fresh and glowing; the real Nika, no longer able to keep up, falls out of the frame as her holographic incarnation continues to blissfully execute perfect pirouettes.
The contrast between reality and the one-dimensional social media experiences in which so many of us spend our hours is thought-provoking, especially in these days of COVID isolation. But that is another topic altogether.
For now, Nika Antuanette and Jeremy Cove's HOLOGRAM is very much worth watching. Check it out in YouTube here.