The cult of celestial deers

The cult of celestial deers is an ancestral ritual related to Siberian shamanism. Mediator between the human world and the spirit, the shaman enters a trance to get in touch with the beyond. Before killing an animal, Tungus hunters must have an exchange with the forest spirit, the spirit of game giver. The shaman then join the spirit of animals in the supernatural by transforming himself into an animal, a deer.The cult of celestial deers is an installation designed to immobilize the visitor in front of a mirror to wrap him in an aura and reveal the animal that sleeps in him. The superposition of the optical reflection and a digital animation enable to immerse him in an illusion centered on his body.

In contrast to shamanic rites, the visitor does not reach the spirit world through trance, but by meditation. The system prompt contemplation and silence because the interaction is reversed: action causes disappearance while inaction brings vision. If those present are static and silent, they see a halo emerging from their bodies which soon made ​​an animal figure. But once a person moves or makes a sound, the apparition vanishes. The spell is broken.

The lighting space management can play, through reflection, between the real presence of the visitor and a spectral revelation. Viewers experience the illusion that a spirit comes out of their bodies, revolves around them before making the final mutation. Sharing this ecstasy, the visitor releases his animal spirit and discovers feelings hidden since our origin.

The man is a still digital hunter. Prey does not move on all fours and do not have horn. Rather, they are 8-bit and move on the network. The human-machine hybridation that we are witnessing appears to move us away from nature. Unless it is the way to the supernatural.