HATCH

The idea for HATCH started when I observed experimental dance artist, Lavinia Vago, perform live. Captivated by her staccato-like movements that seem to create fluidity and flow, I approached Lavinia with the idea of collaborating on a cross-media project. During our time in the studio, Lavinia made a comparison of her form to that of an extraterrestrial alien. The filmmaker and storyteller leaned-in to the idea of “alien-inspired” visuals. In my mind, I saw a hatch suspended from the ceiling that the film would center around. The hatch serves as a metaphor for where we all start, the womb.

Upon birth, we don’t have the tools, words, thoughts to express ourselves, let alone make intentional decisions on our behalf. What I find fascinating is that during our growth and development the speed of which the brain evolves, compared to the evolution of our bodies, is much faster. This relationship, or distance, between these two spaces is an interesting way to look at how self-aware a person is. Or, as I like to refer to it, how “woke” a person is.

In many ways, Lavinia’s expression of dance represents all of us. We are all waking up, coming into ourselves, adjusting and pivoting as we go. It’s happening for each of us, but at different times and speeds. Each of us are waking up to new ways of seeing the world and each other. When I speak with people about becoming “woke,” they say it’s like a lightbulb being turned on in a dark room. Not only do people see the “light,” but they see all the elements in the room that were once dark, now illuminated. The process of coming out of the dark and into the light is, in a way, technology itself. This, is the ethos of HATCH.