Andrea Khôra
London-based Artist & Researcher
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lucid

lucid (Hypnagogia) and lucid (Hypnopompia) by Andrea Khôra were commissioned for the launch of Autotelic Foundation.

While making the video shorts lucid (Hypnagogia) and lucid (Hypnopompia) I was thinking about slippery thresholds of consciousness — from dreamworlds and K-holes to our projected digital selves on the internet. Hypnagogia and Hypnopompia are liminal states where bizarre hallucinations or sensations occur, the first can happen when falling asleep and the second when waking. Each video opens with a common ‘reality test’, a POV shot of someone looking down and examining their hands to test if the self is dreaming, awake, or both inside a lucid dream. The internet’s obsession with lucid dreaming was one of my first introductions to altered states of consciousness as a young kid on internet message boards. Now, as an IV Ketamine patient, I travel to similarly strange realms. I work with an ever-evolving workflow to produce the animations — involving 5 or 6 different programs to get the images and movements I’m after. Then, I work in post production to ensure forms, colours, and timings flow together. There’s a fantasy that AI animation is fully automated and takes little time and knowledge from the human, but working with these different systems is like learning new languages to write a story. Each short, though under a minute long, took several weeks of intense work. The result is an uncanny journey through subconscious fantasy spaces.

Film & Animation: Andrea Khôra Sound & Music: Wordcolour

lucid (Hypnagogia) and lucid (Hypnopompia) were commissioned for the launch of Autotelic Foundation in London.

While making the video shorts, I was thinking about slippery thresholds of consciousness — from dreamworlds and K-holes to our projected digital selves on the internet. Hypnagogia and Hypnopompia are liminal states where bizarre hallucinations or sensations occur, the first can happen when falling asleep and the second when waking. Each video opens with a common ‘reality test’, a POV shot of someone looking down and examining their hands to test if the self is dreaming, awake, or both inside a lucid dream. The internet’s obsession with lucid dreaming was one of my first introductions to altered states of consciousness as a young kid on internet message boards. Now, as an IV Ketamine patient, I travel to similarly strange realms. I work with an ever-evolving workflow to produce the animations — involving 5 or 6 different programs to get the images and movements I’m after. Then, I work in post production to ensure forms, colours, and timings flow together. There’s a fantasy that AI animation is fully automated and takes little time and knowledge from the human, but working with these different systems is like learning new languages to write a story. Each short, though under a minute long, took several weeks of intense work. The result is an uncanny journey through subconscious fantasy spaces.

Film & Animation: Andrea Khôra Sound & Music: Wordcolour