If I were to define “imaginarium” (if it even can be defined), it’d be “a reality where you don’t know, or aren’t sure of, what is real.” While it could be argued that’s what our own world nowadays feels like, let’s keep things civil and simple by looking at this concept through the lens of a medium, specifically through film. Despite the inherent complexity in the concept of “imaginarium,” creative media is the perfect place to explore it since movies, novels, videogames etc. are where the real and unreal meet, and produce limitless possibilities. Be it storytelling and plot progression, exploring complex characters vastly different from who we are, or visiting worlds we could scarcely imagine, media could itself be the definition of “imaginarium” since it’s where we take reality and recreate, forge, or even outright annihilate it, to order to suit our goal of looking at something “different.” But what if we just look at it as a genre, and not an entire philosophy unto itself? Where would be a good body of work in which to look at it, examine in an insightful manner, and see different kinds if imaginariums? Well, I’d argue that some of the best examples of the imaginarium in action can be found in the works of animation legend, Satoshi Kon.
Apr 25, 2020 • Subscribe
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