Ultraviolet - Marc Johnson • Award Winning Artist and Filmmaker

Synopsis
A woman named Kanchana is using voodoo on scorpions in a rainforest at night in Thailand
under the influence of ultraviolet lights.

“Ultraviolet” Short film

“Ultraviolet” invites us to an encounter with other forms of life and experiences involving themes of inter-species sociability, collaborative survival, the Anthropocene, the Posthuman and the Fable. Inspired by a Chinese poem of the 3rd century BC – written by Zhuangzi – “The Butterfly’s Dream”, “Ultraviolet” conveys an allegorical narrative in which the parable and the fable unfold in a futuristic and enchanted world. The connection between human and other species is no longer seen in the dominant verticality of mankind, at the top of the pyramid of evolution, although as a horizontal relationship where all beings are considered equal.

The Fable tells that one night, Kanchanna was dreaming she was a scorpion. A scorpion happy with itself and doing as it pleased, unaware that she was herself. Soon, she was awakening and there she was, unmistakably real. Then, she did not know whether she was herself when she was dreaming that she was a scorpion, or whether she was then a scorpion, dreaming of being human. Yet, between a human and a scorpion, there should be some difference, don’t you think so?”