consume repeat #2, 1:18, 2016

This series of short videos explores the notion of repetition through the isolation of animal interactions with their environments, specifically involving activities surrounding consumption.

In consume repeat #2, the subtle violence of the exchange between the Monarch Butterflies is contrasted with the slightly humorous frailty of their bodies. Organic gestures are mechanized through the editing process, and the movements speak to habit, compulsion, obsession, and absurdity.

The videos are also a reflection of our own oftentimes-obsessive relationship with consumption. The series deals explicitly with the notion of eating and attempts to acknowledge the frantic nature around actual survival, but the hyper-stylization allows more metaphoric associations with ideas around consumption, particularly in our culture of excess and abundance, and the obsessive yet unfulfilling ways in which this is often engaged with.

Audio samples by Headphaze (freesound.org)

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