Lauren Russell

My brother’s favourite word: “Phantasmagoria”. A conversation that sparked my interest within the scientific research on sleeping patterns and the imagery our brains project during our subconscious states. Seeing with our eyes closed shut; images reflecting fears, internal thoughts, desires, and even cases of déjà vu – how exactly do these fleeting images cross our reality when awake and how do these momentary montages reflect our character? Phantasmagoria is argued being the repression from consciousness and yet inscribed in the ideological process, catalysed by hysteria and the neurotic process.

My short film (made with mixed media frames) and my posters (made with manipulated film) attempt to translate these phantasmagoric, dream-like sequences that we experience during such states, the colourful rapidity juxtaposed with the otherwise mundane and dull lens we are so used to in our fully conscious hours, highlights the otherworldliness of dreams and how little we know about such activity. Auditory, visual and tangible hallucinations are another form of phantasmagoria and can form without the need of REM sleep. My depiction of phantasmagoria is relevant to my own individual experience and overlaps with my passion of horror in filmmaking – always showcasing the grotesque and disturbing aspects in everything that I can.