Bardo

Inspired by a Tibetan tradition, darkness therapy involves spending at least seven days alone in a completely dark, preferably soundproof room. Viera Čákanyová undertook this retreat and transformed her radical experience into an intense sensorial adventure. She uses AI to visualize the hypnotic phantom images and visual perceptions of light that her brain produced in the absence of sensory stimulation.

The voice-over comes from audio recordings Čákanyová made during her introspective journey into darkness. This darkness seems to take on various forms, colors, and textures that help her confront a trauma.

She animates the images into a constant flow of visuals, a never-ending metamorphosis in which atoms can slow down to a non-human pace. Everything is but an interlude—between one way of being and another, between action and inaction.