Anne de Vries, 2015
Critical Mass: Pure Immanence
Created by Anne de Vries in 2015 as a HD video projection on a screen as a 14 minute loop. Text is by Anne de Vries, audio remix by James Whipple (a.k.a.M.E.S.H) and 3D programming by Diego Tonus.
The videowork ‘Critical Mass: Pure Immanence’ is inspired by the last essay by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze: ‘Life: Pure Immanence’ (1995), a text that articulates the ultimate integration between all elements and oppositions. Anne de Vries translated Deleuze’s theory to the form and limitations of dance music. It resonates with the recurring sentiment in electronic dance music that calls for unity, for altered states of consciousness and experience beyond society’s divisions. Motivational speaking has become an important element in the relatively recent genre of Electronic Dance Music, Hardstyle, a voice exceeding the music that addresses the masses. It is part of a mostly Dutch phenomenon that represents the next step in dance events, creating whole environments which are, according to De Vries, celebrations of the artificial and synthetic in sound and visuals.
© Anne de Vries, courtesy of the artist
