Plastisapiens

2022 | Canada | Directed by Miri Chekhanovich and Édith Jorisch with Dpt. | Produced by NFB, Dpt. & Lalibela Productions

15 min

Licensing

Take a deep breath in. Out. In. Out. Now relax and contemplate a world where plastic is completely integrated with the environment. Plastisapiens is a meditative virtual reality experience that allows us to consider this world with curiosity, playfulness and even a sense of wonder. Rooted in modern scientific research, the narrative slowly gives way to a strangely beautiful and ironic speculative work of eco-fiction, a journey through time, evolution and imagined futures. By interacting with organisms around us, then watching as our virtual, organic selves merge with plastic, the experience creates a safe space to empathize with a material that binds us all. As we are gently guided through an awe-inspiring universe of hybrid bodies, we are ultimately left to ponder how the interchanging relationship between humans and the environment transforms our identity, right down to our DNA.

About the experience

Plastisapiens is an interactive virtual reality experience that asks participants to explore a future where organic and plastic beings become one. Users are invited to take a break from eco-anxiety and jarring news headlines to instead enter a calming animated space. Here, they can travel back in time to witness the origins of organic and plastic life; explore their kinship with bacteria, viruses and fungi; and watch in amazement as their (virtual) hands turn into waving tentacles, and then as those tentacles turn into new mutant appendages—a symbol of an imagined future where skin and synthetics have co-evolved, and survival of the fittest means embracing flexibility in body and mind. Throughout the 15-minute interaction, users shift from observer to participant, and the experience is a journey from a place of reactivity and fear to a curious, even hopeful future mindset. A better place for thoughtful conversation and meaningful action around the pressing global issue of petrochemical pollutions. Co-creator Miri Chekhanovich also serves as a narrator and gentle guide, for both the French and English versions, while Israeli composer

Ori Alboher (a.k.a. ORI) provides a suitably soothing ambient soundtrack, using his voice to embody the joint relationship between plastic and organic. The experience is also available as a multi-sensory installation, created by textile and bioplastic artists, for select events. In this version, several participants can take part at once, entering an enveloping cocoon where transparent materials help humans and the environment melt into one another. Inspired by organic forms and human biology, stalagmites can be found above and petroleum-like bioplastic “puddles” below, where life begins to grow in the form of (plastic) flowers. While seated, everybody is offered a piece of edible bioplastic—a hint at themes of porosity and hybrid bodies, and a further blurring of boundaries between participants and the space around them. Plastisapiens was created for Quest 2 headsets and was conceived with a real-time rendering engine. It can be experienced seated or standing, with controllers or hand-tracking.

Awards and Festivals

SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY | IDFA Doc Lab
BEST INNOVATION VR | Cinequest
IMPACT AWARD | NewImages Festival
BEST EXPERIENCE | Guanajuato International Film Festival
VR EXPERIENCE | NUMIX Award
OFFICIAL SELECTION | Tribeca Film Festival
OFFICIAL SELECTION | Festival du nouveau cinéma

Credits

WRITER, DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER
Miri Chekhanovich

WRITER AND DIRECTOR
Editch Jorisch

EXPERIENCE DIRECTOR
Maude Thibodeau

CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Nicolas S. Roy

PRODUCERS

Raphaëlle Sleurs (Dpt.)
Marie-Pier Gauthier
Miri Chekhanovich

Isabelle Repelin 
Louis-Richard Tremblay (ONF)
Danae Elon (Lalibela)

MUSIC AND SOUND DESIGN
Ori Alboher

TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR
Martin Viau

3D ARTISTS
Pierre Chaumont      Jules Riou-Bourgeois.     Cindy Ou

A PRODUCTION OF
DPT.      National Film Board of Canada      Lalibela

AUDIO RECORDING
Luc Léger

FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM
 Fonds des médias de Canada     Makor Foundation for Israeli Films
             Israel Film Council     Israel Ministry for Culture

This project was developed as part of New Identities, a digital creation co-production partnership between Israel and Canada.

Miri Chekhanovich

Writer, Director and Producer

A multidisciplinary visual artist, Miri Chekhanovich combines research in biomaterials, video, and installation. Born in Armenia, Miri grew up in Jerusalem and immigrated to Canada in 2013. She currently lives and works in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal), where she obtained her MFA at Concordia University, within the Department of Fibers and Material Practices. Her creation emerges from a gentle state of urgency, which leads her to sharing and intervening in the public space. She is interested in neglected materials, geological history, traumatic wounds and the illusion of time. Her work is an invitation to slowness and the development of a strong sense of care. Her video installation Being with was presented by the Phi center in Montreal, as well as part of the Venice Biennale in 2019. Miri Chekhanovich’s work is supported by the CAC, the CALQ, the NFB and the research grant from the FRQSC.

Edith Jorisch

Writer and Director

A film and television director based in Montreal, Édith Jorisch writes and directs documentary and fiction that challenge contemporary notions of identity and migration. Her work centers on social vices through a bittersweet and human lens. In 2017, her documentary L’héritier was selected for the FIFA and won the Gémeaux prizes for both best director and best documentary show. Her work has been broadcast on Télé-Québec, Radio-Canada, RDI, TV5, TF1 and Histoire. Édith turned to fiction with the short film Tibbits Hill, an allegorical fable on music as an anti-militarist weapon, which earned her a selection at the FNC in 2021. AWE, her most recent short film which premiered online on the site NOWNESS, offered her an opportunity to mix fiction and documentary. She is presently working on writing her first feature film, which was selected in 2020 at Forge Québec Cinéma, presented by Netflix. In addition to Plastisapiens, Édith Jorisch and Miri Chekhanovich are presently developing a video installation project titled Fruit Opera.

Maude Thibodeau

Experience Director

After studying in fashion design and in graphic design, Maude Thibodeau has been creating engaging digital projects for over 12 years. In recent years, she has demonstrated a strong interest in mixed reality technologies and immersive storytelling. Her professional journey led her first to URBANIA, then to Sid Lee as an interactive artistic director. She is now an experienced director at Dpt., an award-winning Montreal studio at the intersection of film and gaming, art and code, design and research.

Nicolas S. Roy

Creative Director

Nicolas S. Roy is the president and executive creative director at Dpt. He has been producing and performing experiments for emerging platforms for over 15 years. Through a multidisciplinary practice, which combines art and technology, he has designed experiences for institutions such as the National Film Board of Canada, Google, Cirque du Soleil, Ubisoft, France Télévisions, Samsung and ARTE. Marco & Polo Go Round, Manic VR, Ennemi and Parade are among his landmark projects.

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