PHIL HASTINGS
filmmaker, artist, educator

Threshold Series

The Threshold Series is fundamentally concerned with exploring liminal states using abstract and poetic forms. I create filmic manifestations of thresholds for the viewer to experience and explore. In each video, a wall of organic matter undulates, at times seductive or mesmerizing, often quickly changing to a frantic or nervous tick. This living, breathing matter becomes a proxy for the viewer’s own experience of standing at a threshold. Within these structures an orifice opens and closes through which a black void can be seen leading to regions unknown, and full of possibility, ripe for personal projection.

 

Much like genetic modification, I enter into the material at the most basic level, in my case, the pixel, and through manipulation transform and alter the original data to create something new while still retaining elements of the original. Often this transformation experience is a matter of exploration and testing to see what changes can be made and evaluating these outcomes. The more I push these results, the more removed the final imagery is from the original. Images from work in progress can be seen on the Workbench.