Martha Fiennes: Yugen & Nativity

Award-winning artist, filmmaker, director and writer Martha Fiennes brings Nativity and Yugen, two of her most visually astonishing pieces of generative art, to The Coronet’s Main Auditorium and the Print Room studio. Intriguing images of surreal and dreamlike natural worlds combine with alternate dimensional realities in a constantly changing and beautiful spectacle.

On huge screens, the images created by the artist using traditional film craft and actors evolve and breed using cutting edge generative technology. No image is repeated, so watching the piece is always a unique experience made by technology that runs 24/7, and that we only participate in whilst in the room. This free exhibition can be watched for 5 minutes or hours.

Both films are accompanied by majestic and hypnotic sound scores which are written and produced by composer Magnus Fiennes, and self-selected by the engine depending on instructions.

Through technique and subject matter, Fiennes creates a dramatic and unusual evocation to stimulate the subconscious mind.

Yugen

The title Yugen refers to a concept in Japanese aesthetics which alludes to the principle of a subtle yet profound awareness of the beauty and mystery of a partially perceived Universe.

The actor Salma Hayek Pinault is Martha Fiennes’ muse and it is her character and potent presence which dominates the screen.

The subject of the artwork explores the idea of a distinction between an Earth world – the ‘gross material plane’ with which we are all primarily identified – and alternative planes of existence. Extraordinary dynamic ‘fractal’ worlds suggest the idea of alternate dimensions of influence upon the experience of reality.

“I’ve always been drawn to the idea of extended levels of consciousness – such as with dreams, archetypes, hyper-space, Out of Body Experiences, Near Death Experiences, realms that psychoactive plant medicines conjure – as well as the vast reservoir of human creative expression that has preceded us.” – Martha Fiennes

Nativity (The Print Room Studio)

Fiennes’ exquisite, perpetually changing take on the classic Nativity scene.

Though undeniably influenced by iconic Renaissance paintings, Nativity is inspired by Fiennes’ feeling limited in the moving image world. The work is a chance to “challenge the conventions of moving image editing in which images and sequences are ‘fixed’ indefinitely.”

“What fascinated me most were all these Renaissance paintings of the Nativity…And what drew me in were things like the representation of women, the place of the mother figure, all of which have been lost in Christianity. The pull for me was to interpret anew the world of this iconic story by making use of this incredible technology.” – Martha Fiennes in The Guardian