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78. And In That Moment, I Felt Infinite
1 year ago
“Yet it is in this loneliness that the deepest activities begin. It is here that you discover act without motion, labor that is profound repose, vision in obscurity, and, beyond all desire, a fulfillment whose limits extend to infinity.

I suppose what makes me most glad is that we all recognize each other in this metaphysical space of silence and happening, and get some sense, for a moment, that we are full of paradise without knowing it.” – Thomas Merton

This project was inspired by Patrick Moberg’s MellowTron: stuffedrobot.com/images/public/regular/b233b0cac595646233a3f7947e622537.jpg

Three days ago, I posted my cell phone number on my blog and asked people to anonymously call it and leave a voice message to the question:

What is loneliness?

Predominantly using digital stills manipulated in post, some video footage, and lo-fi audio recordings of messages from my cell phone, this was an attempt to make a coherent psychological discourse of strangers’ emotional dispositions, which resulted in a huge emotional investment.

This was an extremely difficult question to answer, and I am so grateful to all who participated. Here are the messages transcribed: karenabad.tumblr.com/post/36237755/loneliness-is


__________________________________________________________
This is, "Loneliness," the second installment of "Robot Feelings" videos.

(Read about it here: karenabad.tumblr.com/post/48766743/robot-feelings )

Longing - vimeo.com/738587
Love - vimeo.com/1664882

vimeo.com/Robots
  • Bryan Wuest 1 year ago
    so impatient right now.
  • psh i was clinging to my seat...it took forever to upload
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  • Come onnnnnn
  • I know right..
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  • Karen....
    I cried.
  • Aw I love you Christopher. I almost cried while I was editing this, but I have no heart, so I didn't. I'm made of wires and batteries.
  • Well this was definitely worth staying up until 5am to watch this. <3
  • true dat.
  • You were already up putzing around with other stuff, haha. :)
  • victoria 1 year ago
    don't tell anyone, but I cried too.
  • Mum's the word.
  • Ha you guys are cute.
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  • Jason Lane 1 year ago
    Lovely.
    So many hugs for Robie.
    And the callers.
  • Um no hugs for Cecil or the new guy?

    haha thanks coach rubby.
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  • Beautiful, and really interesting. Certain people say it's when there's nobody around, and others say it doesn't matter how many are around you. Same with loneliness being a horrible or lovely thing.
  • It was definitely interesting. Good thing I'm putting that psychology degree to a better use. Haha. It's always good to hear what different people have to say about the same idea or concept.

    love you.
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  • LCF 1 year ago
    i just got your message, i'm really glad you shared this with me <3
    hopefully, a lonely person will watch this, and not feel so loney...
  • We need to catch up.

    I hope you are doing well. love u.
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  • Aziz K. plus 1 year ago
    Karen, you're amazing you know that right?
  • Aziz, you know you're a lion right? An awesome one with blue hair.

    Haha.

    I think you're pretty great.
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  • heather 1 year ago
    Lady you amaze me, I meant to do this but never got the guts too because I'm afraid of the phone!
  • I don't blame you, it's difficult to talk about something like this let alone have your voice recorded for someone to use. hahah. It is alright my dear I appreciate you always.
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  • Capucha plus 1 year ago
    "this video no longer exists" :'(
  • oh silly vimeo. It's still there but lurking around in cyberland. :-)
  • Capucha plus 1 year ago
    bummer, apparently I'm the only one here who's not able to view it. And all others videos work fine for me today, except this one.
    weird!
  • Patrick Moberg 1 year ago
    Try now! I think it's fixed.
  • victoria 1 year ago
    heh... loneliness is not being able to watch the video that everyone else has already watched :P
  • Hahaha Victoria. You're silly.
    Thanks for the quick fix P Mob.
  • Capucha plus 1 year ago
    haha victoria
    and thanks again Patrick ! :)
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  • Teah 1 year ago
    I love how one term can have such different meaning to different people and it's refreshing to see how people can answer the question not just as a negative term.

    Kudos for setting this up, Karen.
  • Most definitely. I was hoping that that's what it would come out as...thank god. haha. I didn't want this video to be depressing at all. Good thing things worked out as they did.

    Thanks for your support Teah :-)
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  • Stephen Niebauer staff 1 year ago
    This was extremely moving.

    Thank you.
  • You know what else is moving...the fact that you got an HV30.

    :-)~~~
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  • Ben Millett 1 year ago
    The comment at 2:00 was what I was going to say, only he said it better. This was really nice. A great collaboration.
  • Thanks Ben Millett. :-) I'm sure you would've said it wonderfully as well. Thanks for wanting to be so involved in everything that I try, and always believing in me...best life coach ever.
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  • Troy Rojewski 1 year ago
    This is so great.
  • Aw thanks Troy. <3
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  • Patrick Moberg 1 year ago
    Beautiful job, Karen.
  • Thanks so much P. Mob. Thanks for the life of your wonderful robots.
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  • Buck Flashroy 1 year ago
    Oh no! I can't see it! It just says;
    "Sorry, this video no longer exists"

    I keep refreshing, but it says the same thing :(
  • Capucha plus 1 year ago
    Ah ! So I'm not the only one.
  • Patrick Moberg 1 year ago
    Try now! I think it's fixed.
  • Capucha plus 1 year ago
    It works, yes ! Thank you Patrick :)
  • Buck Flashroy 1 year ago
    Yup, works now - thanks Patrick.

    I like the images in this video, but I found the words quite hard to hear. Just the wrong time for me to hear that kind of thing at the moment. I liked the robots though.
  • Agreed, the lofi audio from voicemails makes it SOOOO difficult to understand. Honestly, I had to listen to some of them three times before understanding it. I think what I'll do right now is write a transcript of what they say and add a link. karenabad.tumblr.com/post/36237755/loneliness-is
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  • Ayz Waraich 1 year ago
    Such a great idea Karen.

    very affecting.
  • :-)

    Thanks Ayz!
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  • Alex Itin plus 1 year ago
    Very very nice karen. I'm so lonely....shit
  • Don't be.

    Hee hee.

    Hugs for you. ::happy::
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  • Sunny Dawn 1 year ago
    Karen, this is gorgeous. Thank you so much for making it.
  • I am happy to share it with you Sunny. I think that it's important that people listen to other because our lives are so fast paced, we don't have time to just relax and enjoy one another's company.
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  • Capucha plus 1 year ago
    So moving... I couldn't understand all the messages because of the phone voice distorsion (it makes it harder to understand for a foreigner like me). Maybe this is better, because I think I would have cried too much. But if you have some time, I'd love to have the verbatim.
  • My dearest Capucha. Here you go:

    karenabad.tumblr.com/post/36237755/loneliness-is

    :-)
  • Capucha plus 1 year ago
    You're the best !! :))) <3
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  • ampatspell 1 year ago
    So sad and hopeful and beautiful.
    Thank you, thank you.

    (Listening Sigur Ros - Untitled 3 right now)
  • Thanks so much :-) I've been listening to Hvarf/Heim so much lately. It's soo refreshing.
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  • victoria 1 year ago
    ... what everyone else said... This is a really touching video. I'm so glad so many people participated. It's so good to hear how other people encounter loneliness. It makes us all feel a little less alone, doesn't it?

    Awesome project. You are a beauty. <3
  • That's true. Being around people who feel the same sadness, somehow makes our problems seem less significant because of empathy.

    you are love.
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  • The Real UHF plus 1 year ago
    <3<3<3
  • Thank you kind sir
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  • robert 1 year ago
    We love you Karen.
  • As I love you too my dear friend.
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  • ße ωell ;-) plus 1 year ago
    with so many comments and so many friends how can you be lonely? ;-)

    great video Karen and nice to see you experiment with time lapse, although you need more practice ;p - only joking :)

    10 out of 10 from me!!!
  • Haha I'm never lonely...well sometimes but hardly ever. I have too many good friends to be lonely. This was just a study in feeling of loneliness. (Psychologist's intuition).

    Oh my gosh I know...the timelapsing was SOOOO jumping because the camera batteries kept dying.

    Also I didn't adjust my pclix properly, the tape was lose and the cable kept falling.

    Thanks Be well <3!
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  • HannahMai plus 1 year ago
    this turned out so great... :)
    awesome idea karen!!
    and i am in it, wooo! i was feeling super lonely by the time i left my message, it was good timing.
  • You are a heartbeat. :-)

    It was nice to see that my nearest and dearests participated in this. Thank you for always supporting me.
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  • Redthko 1 year ago
    i agree with victoria.
    This is a really touching video.
    It makes us all feel a little less alone.
    i am alone and in this moment i feel infinite.
    have a great week!
    redthko! :D
  • Thanks Carlos. :-) How can I ever be alone with such wonderful people in my life.
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  • Bryan Wuest 1 year ago
    hey which camera did you end up using for this? is the GS320 working again?
  • No I had to borrow one from someone for about half an hour, it was a much grosser model than the 320, i think it was the 29 or something. It was an in between from the 320 and what i sent you, made completely of plastic. Good thing colour correction exists huh.
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  • _blank 1 year ago
    Quite sad, but really poetic :)
  • Aww hopefully not meant to be too sad.

    Supposed to be hopeful.
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  • I can't stop watching this. For serious.
  • Me too oddly enough because I typically can't stand watching things that I make (for serious.)
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  • leslie 1 year ago
    i agree with the others who think you're awesome, because you are. this made me cry.
  • Thanks so much leslie. But just to clarify, this video, and a lot of others that I create are awesome, not because of me, but because of the people who are willing to invest themselves into my work either in the direct creation of it or in the acceptance, support, and viewing of it. I merely document the aesthetics around me. In this idealistic, fantasmical world that exists in my head, there's far too much beauty to ever be sad for too long... :-)
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  • andre 3000 1 year ago
    With everything you do, it makes me feel like I don't do enough. All the effort that you put into this, and everything is astounding.
    For me, this turned out to be a whole lot more moving and thought provoking than I thought it would be.

    Thank You Karen.
  • haha no..with everything I do, it should show you what little life i have and how i never sleep.
    <3

    actually it turned out to be more of an emotional investment than i had initially thought.
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  • Glenn (avene.org) 1 year ago
    Great work! I love the idea and the finished movie :)
  • B eeep!!! Thanks Glenn :-) you're a great vimeo friend.
  • Glenn (avene.org) 1 year ago
    Thanks Karen :)

    I forgot to mention, the lofi quality of the messages almost made it seem like the robots were talking.
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  • Craig McCreath 1 year ago
    that was both sad, but beautiful, but insightful.

    it was perfect.
  • Aww thanks so much Mr. McCreath. :-)
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  • Taylor Near 1 year ago
    great work

    still using the DVX??
  • DVX is still out of commission but on its way to getting fixed.
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  • michael baca 1 year ago
    wow karen that was so good. i love the simplicity but yet it was very moving. your work is inspirational.. a goal for me to strive for being at AAU. lets hang out this summer i have your email. think of something you would like to film in the city k?!
  • aww thanks michael , yeah i hope we get a chance to collaborate this summer. haha most of these things on my vimeo are silly little projects and exercises i do for fun. but for some reason, i enjoy doing them more than stuff for class. :-)

    we'll keep in touch.
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  • michael baca 1 year ago
    well yeah vimeo is a good way to practice the stuff we learn at school! anyways you got talent girl
  • haha no offense to our school, but i haven't really learned much of anything since I started going there. Haha..but hopefully that will change next semester.

    But you are right it's good to keep pushing yourself to do things outside of school. and you are very flattering, you are a talented young man yourself from the few videos of yours that I have seen. I can't wait to collab.
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  • yummygreens 1 year ago
    This was really neat. touching =/
  • aw thanks so much :-)
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  • Angela Sauceda 1 year ago
    why are you so unbelievably brilliant?

    p.s.
    expect something in the mail in a few days :)
  • Not me who is brilliant, it is the people who are brave enough to participate in my little projects. :-)

    aww you are a gem. <3 Thanks for being a part of my life.
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  • Scruff_E_Guy plus 1 year ago
    wow...this is incredible
  • Aww thanks a lot scruffs, I've missed ya I hope all is well with you.
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  • loonachic plus 1 year ago
    ok. i cried at 2:25.

    i really need to be reading your blog, karen! wtf is wrong with me? i feel so alone for being the only person on the planet not reading your blog.

    :-/
  • Aww you need not worry, my blog is pretty boring so you're not missing out on much, or just ridiculous links. hee hee.


    I think you are an incredible person. :-) I really do.
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  • Monica 1 year ago
    Great video!
    I agree that loneliness can be addictive and can be so easy to feel, and especially, comfortable(for me).
    We need sad moments, and moments when we feel lonely so that we can fully understand what is happening around us.
    I'm happy that I could see your video. Thanks!
  • I'm thankful that you were able to see this and express your perspective of loneliness. Though it is a pleasant video to watch, I am more surprised and happy about the discourse that is created about the subject matter.

    Thanks again so much Monica. Have a great day!
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  • Dan Huston plus 1 year ago
    So now I'm wiping my eyes and blowing my nose....that was amazing! Brilliantly moving - I could go on and on. Thanks for that!
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