This endless loop references Avalon (from Gallo-Indo-Germanic abal = apple), the mythic island from pre-Christian lore once seen as a paradise.
In an undefined space and timeless state, we circle around two faceless avatars from changing perspectives. Who – or what – are they? Projections of real people, intelligent machines, or something in between? Can machines develop desires, dreams? A golden apple floats between them, its reflective surface expanding the real space. All their efforts revolve around the golden apple – and yet it remains out of reach.
Vernissage on November 3 at 7 p.m. in St. Konrad, Bärenstr. 22, 86156 Augsburg, Germany.
Finissage on December 3.
The apple was and is in many cultures of high symbolic power: Be it as a symbol for eternal youth, eternal life, for love, fertility, paradise and fall of man. In this videoinstallation we circle around a golden apple. We recognize familiar places in the Bärenkeller (a district of Augsburg) in the background and on its reflecting surface. Like foreign bodies, two-dimensional portraits of various people float in it. Who are these people? The holy family? Our neighbors? They never existed, but are outputs of an artificial intelligence. Is this paradise on earth?
Deep Paradise @ St.Konrad / Augsburg-Bärenkeller, 2023, video installation with sound, 6:07 min
The apple was and is highly symbolic in many cultures: be it as a symbol of eternal youth, eternal life, love, fertility, paradise and the fall of mankind.
In this installation, a golden apple floats in the air like a fixed star. Familiar places are reflected on its shiny surface (in the Bärenkeller district of Augsburg). How are people doing there and in the world?
In contrast, the two-dimensional portraits in this landscape appear strange. Who are these people? The Holy Family? Our neighbours? They never existed, but are the outputs of an artificial intelligence. We live in a time of upheaval. New technologies give us the feeling that we are increasingly losing control over truth and lies, over good and evil. Is this paradise on earth?
The apple hides a secret inside, because there is a small star made up of 5 seeds. It reminds us that our actions determine whether we come a little closer to “paradise on earth”.
The site-specific video installation refers to the real space: church, district, city… by showing it as a digital mirror image, which in turn is reflected by the shiny surface of the golden apple. A kind of visual recursion in which reality and fiction, analog and digital merge.
Suzanne is lured into a seductive virtual dream – guided by flashing buttons and a calming voice assistant promising relief from insomnia. Unbeknownst to her, she is part of a behavioral experiment designed to manipulate her actions through algorithmic control.
The film rejects traditional narrative in favor of a fragmented, immersive loop that mirrors the disorienting logic of digital platforms – addictive, cyclical, and subtly coercive.
Social networks now shape a global economy in which attention is the most valuable resource. What appears to be free access conceals a deeper cost: constant surveillance and behavioral conditioning by tech corporations using Attention Engineering – a system that combines persuasive design, gamification, and AI, grounded in psychology.
Rabbit Hole 4.0 explores the loss of personal agency in a world where algorithms anticipate needs before we are aware of them. It reflects on the illusion of choice, the commodification of behavior, and the quiet erosion of self-determination in an era of total digital recall.
At its core, the film poses a simple but urgent question: in a world shaped by invisible influences, do we still have control over ourselves?
