The Octopus Network
A living organism to host, extend, connect, and express our senses.
Symbiosis between Marco Mezzavilla (Scientist telecommunications, NYC) & Valerie van Zuijlen (Filmmaker, NL).
The Octopus Network is our attempt to capture the boundless motion of human senses, thoughts, and emotions that are constantly flowing around us - transported over invisible waves that dance to the vibrational rhythm of electromagnetism, one of the four fundamental forces of Nature.
We explored the spectrum in which physical boundaries become virtually boundless. During this exploratory journey, we met distant strangers that felt closer than ever. We switched roles, we stretched our senses, we created virtual spaces that gave us a sense of natural equilibrium, collectiveness, togetherness, and sensorial flow.
Part of the Imagine Science Film Festival "Symbiosis" competition, 18-23 October 2020
Special Thanks to Labocine, Science Sandbox & Imagine Science Films.
The big challenge here that Valerie really directed really well was trying to transform all my profound fascination for telecomunication networks and the transmission of signals of thoughts and emotions across the globe. Into something that could be tangible in a way. So we started to really transform all of this scientific perception of what it is a global network into senses. Our goal was to really try to portray this eternal flow of human thoughts and emotions. We started to visualise the network as this living organism, like an octopus. Like an extension of our brains, our senses. And we felt omnipresent, kind of ubiqutious. How can we describe and portray that? – Marco Mezzavilla
For me it was a new way of virtual filmmaking through telecommunications. And I think through this pandemic when everything stopped, came to a halt, you have to outreach. We are the head of this octopus, Marco and I are this brain. But we are expanding our bionic arms allover the world, so that is the Octopus Network. – Valerie van Zuijlen
