Into the Forest

Produced during the YES (Young European Sculpture) Masterclass #3 in Kuldīga, this video essay documents a performative intervention by artist Ana Sousa. The work centers on a symbolic device: a cylindrical wooden helmet crafted from boiled bark and sisal rope. The film argues for the radical dissolution of the female form into the Latvian landscape, utilizing the "facilitator" not as an optical tool, but as a sensory anchor. As the performer’s naked body is submerged into the currents of the Venta river, the visual narrative traces the transition from a distinct physical entity to an indivisible element of the forest and water.

The sound design and editing, which I developed, play a crucial role in translating the project's sensory inversion: because the helmet obstructs vision, the sonic landscape becomes the primary driver of the essay. The audio work amplifies the "brute force" of the flowing water and the tactile resonance of damp wood, creating a sense of urgency and spatial disorientation. My editing reflects the physical struggle of the performance—the weight of the object and the instability of the riverbed—transforming the footage into a rhythmic meditation on resistance and fluidity. The final synthesis is a cinematic study of ecological absorption, where the body finally ceases to belong to itself to become part of the natural cycle.