ANTHONY CULLEN ART

The Burden of Imagination (The Grey Temple pt. 3)

Video Installation (2022); The work is a non-narrative questioning of how humans communicate and search for meaning. The piece also highlights the verbal, non-verbal and often symbolic use of human communication taken while trying to satisfy our imaginations. 

It explores from an outermost viewing point, our human desire to follow paths in life and the structures that form around these journeys. By taking an outsider’s view, I am trying to unlock a new understanding of our relationship with structured religions and dogma in general. 

I had already dealt with the damaging and controlling effects of certain institutions in other works. In this project I looked at select people’s relationship with Dogma and how there may be no visible institution involved, but how strong levels of both support, control and in some cases damage do exist. I researched different cult and communal practices to delve into areas such as; open relationships, instances of incarceration, self-incarceration, amateur psychology and control.

This project is a reflection on the frustrations, anxieties and concerns of the individual in an environment where there is an active search for belonging or something other than the social norms that they already live in.