Frictions
Single-channel 4K video with sound, 55 mins. 35 secs.
2024
Frictions is a moving image work that comprises twelve first-person narratives, each reflecting on the psychological toll of living alongside strangers in an era marked by polarization, technologically-mediated hostility, and perpetual uncertainty about the future. Inspired by the artist's own dreams involving social discomfort and anxiety, the narratives in the film unfold against the backdrop of hazy, dreamlike visual sequences, punctuated with interludes of ambient soundscapes that reinforce a sense of unease.
Written by the artist and narrated in voiceover by Canadian actor Ali Momen, each chapter in Frictions centres on a protagonist recounting a brief, disorienting interaction with a stranger. These small yet charged moments of friction expose deeper societal ruptures: the erosion of empathy, the projection of personal insecurity onto others, and the difficulty of meaningful social connection in a world saturated by suspicion and self-preservation. Foregrounding the lived effects of collective psychological strain and ideological division, Frictions reflects the invisible but persistent stressors of contemporary life, and addresses the tensions that emerge where private and public spheres intersect.
Frictions was produced with support from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council.
