THE LAND OF UTMOST BADNESS
《极恶之地》
3D Film | 2023
《极恶之地》
3D Film | 2023
This is a 3D film that focuses on mental health through Buddhist philosophy, inspired by personal experiences and observations. Mental health is a common issue in society, and the film aims to make people aware of it. I chose to present it from a Buddhist perspective, as I have experience in Buddhist studies and see it as a way of achieving a stable mental state. The film portrays a inversion of Pure Land based on people's responses to a questionnaire about their state of mind and Buddhist studies.
这是一个通过佛教哲学视角表达心理健康话题的3D短片，灵感来自个人经历和对人群的观察。该作品旨在呼吁对心理健康的关注并让人们意识到这是一个不容忽视的问题。选择结合佛教文化的表达方式是因为我近几年有一些接触佛学的经历，我认为它是一种生活方式，是对我们自己心理的研究，也是实现稳定心理状态的一种实践。这使我把这些理论和方法与心理健康这个主题结合起来，基于人们对有关心理状态和佛教研究的问卷回答，创作出了一个颠倒版的‘净土’。
< ACHIEVEMENT >
Exhibited at the Outernet - ‘The Wondering I’ exhibition | Feb 2023
该作品在伦敦市中心 Outernet - The Wondering I 展览展出
The largest digital exhibition space in Europe with the "World's largest LED screen deployment"
欧洲最大的数字展览空间拥有 "世界最大的LED环绕屏幕"
Here is a clip of my work from a documentary on the opening day of the exhibition:
欢迎观看展览纪录片中截取的我的作品片段
▼
documentary by @sung_hooon
< PROCESS >
Motivation
It was inspired by some of my personal experiences and my observations of the people around me. Mental health has always been an issue that cannot be ignored. I have struggled with it sometimes, and I have noticed that many people around me have varying degrees of mental problems. This made me realise that the topic is very common in today's society but people often don't pay enough attention to how to address it themselves. So the idea has always been to create a work on it to make people aware of Mental Health matters.
它的灵感来自我的一些个人经历和我对周围人的观察。心理健康一直是一个不容忽视的问题。我有时也为之挣扎，并且注意到我周围的许多人都有不同程度的心理问题。这让我意识到，这个话题在当今社会非常普遍，但人们往往没有足够重视如何解决自己的问题。因此，我的想法一直是要创作一部关于它的作品，让人们意识到心理健康的重要。
Why ‘Buddhist Perspective’
I want to present it from a Buddhist point of view because it's a significant part of my identity -- being a Buddhist. I have been in contact with Buddhism since 2015 and I have been exposed to the systematic study of Tibetan Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism. I see Buddhist philosophy as a way of life and a practice for achieving a stable mental state, which I want to integrate with mental health.
我之所以想从佛学的角度来表达这个主题，是出于我一部分的身份认同--佛教徒。我从2015年开始接触佛学，包括对藏传佛教和净土宗的系统修习。我认为佛教哲学提倡的是一种生活方式，也是实现稳定心理状态的修行，所以在这里我想把它与心理健康结合起来。
I realised that if I was to apply the profound theory I would have to find the answers in the ancient Buddhist scriptures. So I mainly focused on The Amitabha Sutra. There are countless theories in the scriptures, and I wanted to find very specific points of visual reference based on the need to create art. Then I thought of Pure Land, which is the picture on the right. It has another name —— The Land of Utmost Happiness.
我意识到如果要运用佛学中的理论，就必须从经书中找到答案。于是我开始参考《阿弥陀经》希望从中获取灵感。佛经中有数不清的理论，而基于艺术创作的需求我希望能够找到视觉上可以参考的非常具体的点。然后‘净土’从我的脑海中浮现，也就是右边的图片。它有另一个名字--极乐世界。
The Pure Land already portrays there is a place where all the beings are free from suffering and worry, which I think is the opposite world of the state of mind described by the people I researched. So I wanted to go for an inversion version based on some scenes I extracted from Pure Land and fill in the imagination of people who got involved in my questionnaire about the state of mind. Then ‘The Land of Utmost Happiness’ came to my mind.
净土已经描绘了有一个众生没有痛苦和烦恼的地方，我认为这是与我调研的人们所描述的心境的相反世界。所以我想根据从‘净土’中提取的一些场景，去做一个颠倒的版本，并将参与了我做的关于心理健康的调查问卷里人们对于自己陷入消极状态时对心境的想象填充进来。于是便有了‘极恶之地’这个名字。
Scenes Design & Storyline
Scene 1
The opening scene features a tunnel that represents traveling from reality to 'the land of utmost badness', inspired by the Buddhist concept of Pure Land as a far-off place. This physical distance is expressed as a distance to the state of mind in the project, and the tunnel serves as a connection that transports the audience from reality to a specific state of mind world.
开头的场景是一条隧道，带领观众从现实世界通往这个‘极恶之地’，灵感来自于佛经中描绘净土(极乐世界)在距离上看是一个遥远的地方。这种物理距离在该作品中被表达为与心理世界的距离，而隧道作为一种连接，将观众从现实中传送到一个特定的心理世界。
Scene 2
This scene is about to show those sentient beings in this world. You can see there is part of Pure Land as a reference showing that all the beings are free from suffering and worry. So I made the beings in this project as an opposing version-- wear masks as if they were trying to hide their emotions but their pain and anguish were evident from the 'spikes' on their bodies and their contorted postures
这个场景是要展现这个世界上的众生。你可以看到有一部分从净土庄严图中截取出来的参考，显示所有的众生都没有痛苦和烦恼。所以我把这个作品中的众生作为一个对立的版本--他们戴着面具，好像试图隐藏自己的情绪，但从他们身上的 "尖刺 "和他们扭曲的姿势仍可以看出痛苦和不安。
Scene 3
This is the ‘Core’ scene and also references Pure Land but in an inverted version. The temple's appearance remains, but the Buddha is replaced by a spherical shape connected by chain-like objects. This represents Buddhism's teaching that suffering arises from delusion and how we all share our delusions and desires while being influenced by the environment. It also symbolises karma.
这个是该作品的‘核心’场景，也是从净土中截取但却颠倒化的版本。寺院建筑的外观保持不变，但佛陀被一个由无数链状物连接的球形所取代。这象征了‘共业’以及痛苦产生于妄想，我们如何在受到环境影响的同时分享我们的妄想和欲念。
Scene 4
Here these beings can be seen making pilgrimages to this central sphere in droves. They are blind but devout, representing the idea that we will submit to the tide of our suffering in the world and conform to it. We do not know what we are running for or even pursuing something for the rest of our lives, but perhaps it is as blind as they seem to be.
这里可以看到这些众生在纷纷对着这个中心的球体朝拜。他们是盲目但又虔诚的，代表着我们会臣服于世俗中的让我们痛苦的思潮并顺应它。我们不知道在为什么奔波甚至穷极一生去追求一些东西，但也许就像他们看起来那样盲目。
Scene 5
As the shot progresses, the audience's views move to the huge sphere from the previous scene, and with it the sight of countless beings they are tortured and so in pain. This scene is also an adaptation of the beings depicted in the Pure Land.
随着镜头的推进，观众的视线前进移到上一幕的巨大球体中，映入眼帘的是无数被折磨得痛苦不堪的众生。这一幕也是对于净土中描绘的极乐众生的改编。
Scene 6
Here is the Lotus Pond scene. In the concept of Pure Land, all beings will be born from the lotus. So, I designed it so that all the beings are born from a giant lotus, and then all the lotus bloom together. At the beginning, the audience will see a huge installation with chains at the top, linking it to the previous scene, which was the huge sphere. This implies that the manipulation of the 'central' sphere leads to reincarnation and karma, resulting in the birth of beings here.
这个莲池的场景是引用了在净土的概念中，所有众生将从莲花中诞生。因此，我设计让这个极恶之土的众生也都从一朵巨大的莲花中诞生，所有的莲花同时随之绽放。一开始，观众会看到一个巨大的装置，顶部有很多根链条，把它和之前的场景连接起来，也就是那个巨大的球体。这意味着"中心"球体的操纵导致了轮回和业力，于是众生在这里轮回、诞生。
Scene 7
The film ends with eerie clusters of flowers in a twisted space that begin to grow and cover a broken Bodhisattva statue. What I want to express here is actually about my own identity in this work, as part of my personal experience. But this is a rather open ending and may be viewed differently by those who also share this identity or can empathise with Buddhist culture.
短片的最后，是在一个扭曲的空间里，一簇簇诡谲的花朵开始生长并覆盖了一尊破碎的菩萨像。我在这里想表达的其实是关于我自己的身份认同在这部作品中的体现，是我个人经历的一部分。但这是一个开放的结局，对于那些也有这种身份或能与佛教文化产生共鸣的人，可能会有不同的看法。
Softwares
Something I wanna tell..
一些话
To be quite blunt, the idea started with some of my own mental issues. Initially, I thought that this inspired creation would heal me in the process. However, through in-depth conversations with a few friends, I realized that mental health problems are, in fact, common for people in today's environment, especially young people. I gradually felt that it was not just me and became more determined to do it, hoping to appeal to more people in this way.
I have always been ashamed to talk about this mental aspect of myself, afraid of showing my negative energy or making people think I am too sensitive. But it is real, and it has had a very negative effect on me. I don't know if you can relate to this, but many negative emotions come one after another, and when they build up to a terrible level, they can push people to the brink of despair and give rise to even more negative thoughts. One of my worst experiences was when my head went blank and buzzed, and it was as if my body was about to lose its mind and be overtaken by horrible thoughts. I often imagined that these negative emotions were a monster inside me, eating and tearing away at all the good parts of me, and trying to take over my body and eventually represent me.
It is present in each of us, but it is not actually the enemy because we cannot really destroy it; it is part of us. Its image is an abstract representation of our present state of mind, and we fear it because we are deep in pain and anguish. But once you get over that, you will find that it is not actually scary, and you will not let it manipulate you anymore. You will accept that it is there and live in harmony with it. Although I have not been able to do that even now, I believe that at least being aware of it and thinking about facing it is a big change.
I have been thinking about how to integrate Buddhist philosophy into my artwork, but it is difficult to find many suitable examples for me to refer to, or perhaps my research methods were not good. The reality is that many artists who use Buddhist thinking for their subject matter, I think, are only doing it superficially, perhaps just trying to use the religious elements of Buddhism to make their work seem mystical. Of course, I'm not sure I'm capable of doing better than that because the philosophy of Buddhism is so vast that, even though I'm a Buddhist, I can only say I understand one or two percent of it. Finding the right direction to use these ideas in my work was something I had to think about, and as a work of art, I also had to consider the time it would take to complete and whether the technical complexity of the work would allow me to visualize all these ideas. But this work is the second time I have fused my own identity and subject matter into one work. I will continue to experiment with this kind of work in the future..
很直白的讲，这个灵感最开始源于我自己的一些心理问题。最初我是想着以此为灵感的创作能够在过程中获得一种治愈。但我通过与几个朋友深度的交谈后，发现其实心理问题对于当今环境下的人们特别是年轻人来说，是普遍存在的。我逐渐意识到这并不是我一个人的事，于是更坚定了去做并希望以此呼吁更多的人。
我一直羞于启齿自己的这些心理，害怕展现自己的负能量或是让别人觉得我太矫揉做作。但它是真实却在的，同时给我带来了非常大的消极作用。不知道大家能否感同身受，诸多负面的情绪都是会相伴着接二连三地出现，当累积到非常可怕的地步是会把人推到绝望的边界，衍生出更消极的念头。其中我最严重的一次经历是当时脑袋已经一片空白并嗡嗡作响，那个状态下身体仿佛即将要失去理智被可怕的念头占据。我时常幻象这些负面的情绪是一个在我身体里的怪物，吞噬撕咬着我一切美好的部分，并企图侵占我的身体最终代表我。
它是存在在我们每个人心中的，但其实它并不是敌人，因为我们无法真正的消灭它，它就是我们的一部分。它的形象是我们当下心境的抽象展现，我们之所以畏惧它是因为我们深陷于痛苦与烦恼。但当你克服这些以后，会发现其实它并不可怕，也不会再让它操纵你。你会接纳它是存在的，并与它和谐共生。虽然现在的我也还没有做得到，但我相信至少我们意识到这个问题，想着去面对它就已经是很大的改变了。
我其实一直在思考如何将佛教哲学融合到艺术创作中，却很难找到很多合适的例子去让我参考，也有可能是我的调研方法不太好。但现实中有些用佛学文化做主题的作品我认为他们可能只是做到了肤浅的一层，或许只是想用佛教的宗教元素去让他们的作品看似有神秘感。当然我不确定我是否有能力能够做到更好，因为佛学太深了，深到虽然我是个佛教徒我甚至不能说我略之一二（百分之一二都说不上，哈哈）。所以在创作中如何找到合适的方向去运用这些思想是需要思考的，而且作为艺术品我还要思考完成的时间，技术上的复杂度是否能都具像化这些概念。但这个作品对于我来讲是第二次将佛学和创作题材融合并完成为一件作品。未来我还会继续努力去尝试这样的创作..
To be quite blunt, the idea started with some of my own mental issues. Initially, I thought that this inspired creation would heal me in the process. However, through in-depth conversations with a few friends, I realized that mental health problems are, in fact, common for people in today's environment, especially young people. I gradually felt that it was not just me and became more determined to do it, hoping to appeal to more people in this way.
I have always been ashamed to talk about this mental aspect of myself, afraid of showing my negative energy or making people think I am too sensitive. But it is real, and it has had a very negative effect on me. I don't know if you can relate to this, but many negative emotions come one after another, and when they build up to a terrible level, they can push people to the brink of despair and give rise to even more negative thoughts. One of my worst experiences was when my head went blank and buzzed, and it was as if my body was about to lose its mind and be overtaken by horrible thoughts. I often imagined that these negative emotions were a monster inside me, eating and tearing away at all the good parts of me, and trying to take over my body and eventually represent me.
It is present in each of us, but it is not actually the enemy because we cannot really destroy it; it is part of us. Its image is an abstract representation of our present state of mind, and we fear it because we are deep in pain and anguish. But once you get over that, you will find that it is not actually scary, and you will not let it manipulate you anymore. You will accept that it is there and live in harmony with it. Although I have not been able to do that even now, I believe that at least being aware of it and thinking about facing it is a big change.
I have been thinking about how to integrate Buddhist philosophy into my artwork, but it is difficult to find many suitable examples for me to refer to, or perhaps my research methods were not good. The reality is that many artists who use Buddhist thinking for their subject matter, I think, are only doing it superficially, perhaps just trying to use the religious elements of Buddhism to make their work seem mystical. Of course, I'm not sure I'm capable of doing better than that because the philosophy of Buddhism is so vast that, even though I'm a Buddhist, I can only say I understand one or two percent of it. Finding the right direction to use these ideas in my work was something I had to think about, and as a work of art, I also had to consider the time it would take to complete and whether the technical complexity of the work would allow me to visualize all these ideas. But this work is the second time I have fused my own identity and subject matter into one work. I will continue to experiment with this kind of work in the future..
很直白的讲，这个灵感最开始源于我自己的一些心理问题。最初我是想着以此为灵感的创作能够在过程中获得一种治愈。但我通过与几个朋友深度的交谈后，发现其实心理问题对于当今环境下的人们特别是年轻人来说，是普遍存在的。我逐渐意识到这并不是我一个人的事，于是更坚定了去做并希望以此呼吁更多的人。
我一直羞于启齿自己的这些心理，害怕展现自己的负能量或是让别人觉得我太矫揉做作。但它是真实却在的，同时给我带来了非常大的消极作用。不知道大家能否感同身受，诸多负面的情绪都是会相伴着接二连三地出现，当累积到非常可怕的地步是会把人推到绝望的边界，衍生出更消极的念头。其中我最严重的一次经历是当时脑袋已经一片空白并嗡嗡作响，那个状态下身体仿佛即将要失去理智被可怕的念头占据。我时常幻象这些负面的情绪是一个在我身体里的怪物，吞噬撕咬着我一切美好的部分，并企图侵占我的身体最终代表我。
它是存在在我们每个人心中的，但其实它并不是敌人，因为我们无法真正的消灭它，它就是我们的一部分。它的形象是我们当下心境的抽象展现，我们之所以畏惧它是因为我们深陷于痛苦与烦恼。但当你克服这些以后，会发现其实它并不可怕，也不会再让它操纵你。你会接纳它是存在的，并与它和谐共生。虽然现在的我也还没有做得到，但我相信至少我们意识到这个问题，想着去面对它就已经是很大的改变了。
我其实一直在思考如何将佛教哲学融合到艺术创作中，却很难找到很多合适的例子去让我参考，也有可能是我的调研方法不太好。但现实中有些用佛学文化做主题的作品我认为他们可能只是做到了肤浅的一层，或许只是想用佛教的宗教元素去让他们的作品看似有神秘感。当然我不确定我是否有能力能够做到更好，因为佛学太深了，深到虽然我是个佛教徒我甚至不能说我略之一二（百分之一二都说不上，哈哈）。所以在创作中如何找到合适的方向去运用这些思想是需要思考的，而且作为艺术品我还要思考完成的时间，技术上的复杂度是否能都具像化这些概念。但这个作品对于我来讲是第二次将佛学和创作题材融合并完成为一件作品。未来我还会继续努力去尝试这样的创作..