The Amazon is Elsewhere

Amazon is Elsewhere is a short film that mediates on the unknowability and power of the Amazon for those who do not live within it. For many, the Amazon symbolizes “the lungs of the earth” or “nature” itself.  For the indigenous people of the region, many of whom have no separate word for jungle or forest, it is simply home. The film centers around a building on the edge of the jungle: a mélange of architectural styles where trees break through the concrete floors; plants grow in the faux Corinthian columns; and jaguars made from ceramic tiles guard the entrance.  AI-generated images express forces at play in both the building and the jungle that are difficult to parse as being malevolent or redemptive. The film is part of a body of work that considers how to represent the Amazon in light of its multiplicity of refracted meanings.