Ian Szloch - BA (Hons) Filmmaking
ENSŌ.
I am a filmmaker and visual artist with a particular interest in cinematography and photography. While my practice has covered a variety of genres including narrative, documentary and expressionism, my recent explorations have delved into sonderness and spirituality. Such projects aim to be less like moving images, and more like moving paintings, using symbolic elements to consider the human condition and speak to an audience on a more profound level. As my career progresses from university into the professional world, I hope to develop both my storytelling and technical abilities, seeking like-minded artists who also wish to express a deeper human understanding through their practice.
My final year piece, ENSŌ, is an artist moving image work that takes inspiration from the principals of Buddhism, aiming to express the duality between the Ego and the silencing of that Ego. In the beginning, this sense of identity perceives itself as a separate entity, suffering from desire in a material world. The “you” wishes to continue existing, and therefore fears the ominous, yet inevitable confrontation with Lady Death. However, within this struggle also exists a pathway towards inner silence and the elimination of Ego. A slow, yet steady spiritual journey into perceiving one’s self as part of the universal whole, free from desire. Such ideas are expressed through the usage of ambiguous, yet evocative visual symbolism and soundscapes that immerse the audience in an alternative way of thought.
