Presented by Bedos Mavambu and Pablo Melchor, DOWN UP SIDE is an afro-futurist poetic tale taking the form of a video and a virtual reality experience.
It is the tale of Bedos’ journey from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the planet Mancunia told through spoken word poetry, soundscapes and 3D illustrations. The young Bedos embraces the unknown environment he is catapulted in. He uses music as a common language and gets to know the indigenous extra-terrestrial.
Bedos is optimistic and curious by nature and always sees the upside, bringing nuances to a difficult path, throughout his 12 year voyage through the intergalactic immigration system on planet Mancunia. It finishes when he builds his own nest and becomes a dad.
This work highlights the resilience of asylum seekers and gives hope to those who are still fighting and facing prejudices but yet fuelled with dreams, passion and are waiting for ‘normal life’ It also helps others understand with a new perspective the experience of being exiled.
We used 3D scanning (lidar and photogrammetry) to create the assets as well as VR modelisation to create the optimised assets.
This piece is the debut piece of our collective.
check our website: http://2another.uk
This piece was commissioned by Journeys festival international.
Find it here on the festival's page.
https://www.journeysfestival.com/event/down-up-side
DOWN UP SIDE
CHAPTER 1 / OUR HOME
GOOD GREETINGS AND NICE TO YOU HAVE HERE ,
WE ARE CONNECTED THROUGH ZILLION VERTICES IN A DOME
A PLACE, A PLANET SOME MAY SAY
A SACRED LAND HOMAGE TO BEGINNING OF EXISTENCE
I AWAKE TO ILLUMINATION AND WONDERFUL BRIGHT LIGHTS
YELLOW SUN. SINGING DIALECTIC CHANT WITH VOHI AND TASSI GODDESSES COOKING UP WONDERS, SOURCED FROM THE GOLD CORN
HERE I COULD RUN, COLLECTING PATTERNS OFF MYSTIC SHAPES TO BUILD A SHIELD, FANTASTIC SHIELD, PROTECTIVE SHIELD CELEBRATING OUR DAILY LIVES, AND DAILY ROUTINE
BUT I GOTTA GO, GOT A LOT THRUST TO REACH HIGHER DEPTHS,
AND THE MEMORIES I’LL TAKE WITH ME
FANTASTIC LOVELY HOT CHILL BREEZE
FROM THE SPELLS THAT BLOW OUT OF THE CALABASAS
THE SUN ELECTRONS TRAVELLING COLORFUL HYPERSPACES
DWELL ON GALACTIC VOODOO SPHERES
COTONOU !!
VIBRATIONS AND GROOVES.
INFECTIOUS
KINKONGO CONTROLS THE WARP!!
I GO / ODABO / KWABO
GREETINGS
OUR HOME / WATER MATTERS
CHAPTER 2 - INTERLUDE
I ENVISION THE SPACE IM FROM, MEMORIES AND HABITS,
LOOK AT MY SKIN , MELANIN SHADE, WRINKLES IN FORM OF RIVERS FLOWS THAT WILL ALWAYS TAKE ME BACK TO BASE
GREETING TO ALL LOST IN ORBITS
ONCE ONE TOLD I'LL GO AWAY AND VANISH THE STRUGGLE, ONLY ONE THING
THE STRUGGLE THE JOURNEY BEGINS ON UNKNOWN PATHS
I’M DONE MADE IT TO THE OTHER SIDE,
CHAPTER 3 / THE OTHER SIDE
THE MANC SIDE,
MANCUNIAN HIGHWAYS
MANCUNIAN HIGH RISE
GUARDED BY THE MANC SPECIES
THAT OUR KID SPACEMAN BUILD UP OFF
RANDOM STUFF
RANDOM FORMS. PUDDLES, HOLES
STRANGE RHYTHMIC EXPRESSIONS
ANOTHER SPACE. NOT A DOME ,
NOT A SQUARE
IN HERE I RECONNECT,
NESTED MORE ZILLION VERTICES
SOAK UP THE RAIN IN HOPES
I STILL HEAR VOHI AND TASSI
GROOVING AND CHANTING
WISHING ONE DAY THEY'LL MEET SEED THAT I FLOURISHED
GREETING / KWABO/ ODABO...
Thanks to Journeys international festival for having commissioned us for this piece.
Thanks to V.O. studio where we work from for providing such a nice space.
https://vocurations.com/
And thanks to crazyscans https://sketchfab.com/RandomScan for his bricks.
