HIDDEN EDEN is a short film (33:42) written, directed, filmed, and produced by lush agave and wild anima during residency at the fish factory creative center in stöðvarfjörður, iceland over the summer solstice of 2018.
through music and poetry, the film explores the concept of an 'ecology of emotions' and shepherds the viewer on an inner journey through the secret garden of creativity as put into frame by the natural landscape of iceland.
the accompanying zine, designed by artist cody sarabia, contains the lyrical exchange held in preparation for this residency and pairs this prose with photos and illustrations from the journey.
hidden eden is thus an intermedia dialogue, a collaborative journal, and a process of exploring our physical and emotional natures in right relations with the earth's landscape.
we give thanks to the lands of the Seminole, Timucua, Tongva, Tsalaguwetiyi, and Nisqually peoples for nurturing the formation of this project.
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the film HIDDEN EDEN will be released free-to-stream on march 19th.
all purchases of the zine or soundtrack will include the option to download, and all funds directly support the artists.
this is a co-release with never content.
american friends, please order locally through them.
becomecontent.bandcamp.com
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ARTISTS STATEMENT
"This project bloomed during an art residency in Iceland, sparked by conversations around our shared philosophies on voice and emotional connection. We spent months writing long emails to each other about how our emotions show up in our creative practices.
Through these exchanges, we unveiled the term “The Ecology of Emotions”. Our reflections on this concept became the narrations of 6 short abstract sonnets within an experimental short film, surrounded by four music videos from our respective musical projects. The film is accompanied by a zine containing our discussions on the topic and images from our journey through Iceland.
Hidden Eden is a metaphor for our inner secret garden of creativity. The nature of Iceland inspired us to make the connection on how the landscape reflects our emotional states in our creativity and how it takes part in managing homeostasis of our inner emotional landscapes. This exchange between emotion and the landscape opens a space for healing. Creativity provides us with the tools to access a garden of our authentic being, nourishing and balancing us.
Allowing ourselves to explore the spectrum of our emotions through the lens of our relationship with the Earth invites others to do the same. The creative process can affect our well being and is a key to human evolution.
Both the beauty and challenge of this project was that we were collaborating about 3 years in a number of different locations, in between Orlando, Berlin, and eventually Los Angeles. Creating from all these different spaces influenced our narrative about land appreciation in the film. We were able to meet in person in L.A. at the start of 2020. This was before all the covid lockdowns.
In the spirit of this film, we also want to acknowledge that its concepts are core beliefs of Indigenous communities. Our work serves to echo their calls for climate justice. Tending to our authentic self illustrates these duties of stewardship to our land and water. Creative practice serves as an additional pathway for healing ourselves, our communities, and the earth."
DIRECTORS BIOGRAPHY
Musicians Wild Anima (Berlin, DE) and Lush Agave (Los Angeles, CA) met in 2017 during a tour in Florida through the former Elestial Sound collective. Their music can be described as ethereal art pop. Their love for nature, the psyche and the inner emotional landscapes lead them to create and unveil together the concept of the Ecology of Emotions.
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LUSH AGAVE
Bandcamp:
lushagave.bandcamp.com
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/lushagave/
Web:
lushagave.com
Songs for a Moon ep, 2019:
becomecontent.bandcamp.com/album/songs-for-a-moon
Contact:
lushagave.com/contact
WILD ANIMA
Bandcamp:
wildanima.bandcamp.com/follow_me
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/wildanimamusic/
Web:
www.wildanimamusic.com
Contact:
wildanimamusic@gmail.com
released March 19, 2021
FILM CREDITS
Film
written, directed and filmed by Lush Agave & Wild Anima
edited by Lush Agave; additional editor by Margo Sanda
Creative planning & Art direction team
Margo Sanda:
www.margosanda.com
Kriss Sagan:
sagankriss.com
Post Production
Colorists Math Erao & Margo Sanda
Music
Lush Agave: “Mono No Aware” & “Harlot”
Songs for a Moon (2019)
Wild Anima “Wave Upon Wave” ;“My Earth is Beating”;
“Give it All (instrumental)”
Sound Design
Wild Anima
Narration
Wild Anima & Lush Agave
Script
Wild Anima
Mixing & Mastering
Adam McDaniel; Drop of Sun Studios (Asheville, NC)
www.dropofsun.com
Mastering for Lush Agave tracks “Harlot” & “Mono no Aware”
Valgeir Sigurðsson
valgeir.net
Featured Visual Artist
Beatrice Magalotti - Sculptures in “Our Shadows”
beatricemagalotti.com
ZINE CREDITS
design by Cody Sarabia
original concepts and text by Alisha Erao & Alex Alexopoulos
compiled and written by Alex Alexopoulos
copy editing by Math & Alisha Earo