Disappearing Pathways

Disappearing Pathways is a meditation on what it feels like to both belong and not belong within a community. The voiced narration explores issues of metal health, in relation to hallucinations, dreams, addictions, and family entanglements. We all carry baggage that is inherited through family and how we maneuver through the world is tied to both upbringing and genetics. Who we are is shaped by the past. Family history inevitably repeats itself as we strive to both maintain traditions while also attempting to embrace individuality and break the cycle of our ancestors.

Throughout the animation, we use symbolism involving our interactions with nature, representing the passage of time as well as shifting notions of importance. Culturally, plants can be both coveted or undesirable simply by virtue of perspective. When dealing with categorization, our first question was: when does a plant become a weed? And then we began to think about how the symbol of the weed could be used to examine our own role in society. When does a “human” become a weed? Is this tied to how we navigate and understand community and communication? In relation to metal health, when does a thought become a weed in one’s mind?

Disappearing Pathways is our poetic exploration of these questions, and an examination of how perspectives can shift depending on where you are standing.