Local arts nonprofit Gray Area will soon host the US premiere of Gone, Gone Beyond, a 360° audiovisual cinema experience created by People Like Us (aka Vicki Bennett). After touring multiple venues across Europe, this spectacular work will be available for SF audiences to enjoy from May 12-27.
The immersive spatial cinema work seeks to “break the rectangle,” expanding your typical cinema experience through the use of 10 screens and an 8-channel speaker system. The result is a seamless wraparound screen that seemingly shatters into fragments, unravels, and dissolves in a giant patchwork. Viewers will be immersed in a dynamic collage and accompanying soundscape for a truly surreal departure from convention.
Gone, Gone Beyond is inspired by the Heart Sutra, a Buddhist text that emphasizes interconnectedness through the philosophy that “form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” The work’s title comes from the last line of the text: ‘gate gate pāragate pārasamgate bodhi svāhā,’ or “gone, gone beyond, gone beyond that a bit more, and then beyond that a bit further.” The 360° cinema masterpiece seeks to do just that by venturing beyond the frame of a typical cinema experience, and investigating the “emptiness” at the edges of the narrative.
Creator Vicki Bennett (People Like Us) is a British artist who has worked with audio-visual collage since 1991. Many of her creations are commentaries on popular culture through the use of repurposed footage, with a theme of interconnectedness and a claim that “ownership of an ‘original’ or isolated concept is both preposterous and redundant.” Her work has been shown at the Tate Modern, the Royal Albert Hall, the Sydney Opera House, and more. Bennett will share her process in an artist talk at Gray Area on May 25. Gone, Gone Beyond was commissioned by Naut Human of the Recombinant Media Labs CineChamber.
Find Gone, Gone Beyond at Gray Area, at 2665 Mission Street. It will be on display from May 12-27 Thursday-Saturday, with showtimes at 6:30pm and 8:30pm. Tickets are $15 early bird and $25 general admission.
Featured image: Courtesy of Gray Area