IXESTUM

IXESTUM is the tale of an ancient shamanic ritual from another realm of time and space.

This short film was strongly inspired by ancient eastern philosophy and art, the science and mathematics of chaos theory, Godfrey Reggio’s “Qatsi” film trilogy, and the sci-fi artwork of Jean “Moebius” Giraud, as well as numerous other artists and filmmakers new and old.

The goal for this project was not to have one consistent art style, but many different visual treatments and a plethora of soundscapes. Having the freedom to deviate from a pre-determined production style or aesthetic treatment was a top priority from the early stages of preproduction for a number of reasons, but primarily it was a production tactic for building an analogy to the potential freedom to “deviate” from one’s own body, or perhaps one’s immediate environment - or even just a “normal” state of conscious awareness.

Another cornerstone concept baked into the film from early on was the desire to highlight the importance of language in the way that we think as conscious beings, without actually translating or defining the meaning of any language content whatsoever (and trying not to choose favorites with regards to the language menu of homo sapiens).

As life unfolds, consciousness itself becomes a phenomenon involving unconscious processes which constantly work towards the narrowing down, filtering out, and overall restricting of excess stimuli from the outside world; but when these unconscious filters are weakened - or removed entirely - a more complete picture of the true nature of everything can be witnessed. Whether or not this picture can ever be truly understood, however, is quite another question entirely...

Ixestum is both a labor of love and a vehicle for a powerful idea, best expressed by an excerpt from the writings of Carlos Castaneda (as reportedly spoken to him by the Yaqui Sorcerer, Don Juan Matus):

" ...Freedom cannot be an investment. Freedom is an adventure with no end, in which we risk our lives and much more for a few moments of something beyond words, beyond thoughts or feelings…”

Visit IXESTUM.com to catch the full film, as well as extra artwork and updates about the project’s afterlife in the film festival circuit (coming soon).