Facing Immortality - working progress

The flowing kaleidoscope of imagery in Insa’s GIF animations has a hypnotic power over the spectator. Their cyclical movements, depth, and brilliant colors make us linger, immobilizing us as though under the influence of a powerful painkiller. The view from above gives an accentuated perspective of the work, forcing us to observe the vortex that dominates the room, a vortex that, with its movement, sinks into nothingness. Above it sits a skull in endless rotation, irreverent and sardonic. Both figures were created through 8 layers painted to form the GIF, the defining mark of Insa’s work. Here the English artist reflects on the concept of immortality in the trends found online as opposed to real life. The two objects represented in the work both have dual symbolic significances. The rotating skull is at once an allegory for death and, through its movement in loop, a symbol of the immortality of material found on the internet. The vortex, in ancient tradition a symbol of life and evolution, at the same time, through its movement, warns us about life’s transience. The entire work is a modern and derisive reimagining of human vanitas. A farcical and playful representation of the ephemeral nature of our existence, the work reminds us that we often forget these conditions as we sink into the illusionary world created online.