Arts Thread

This video installation presents a situation in which a search for answers regarding one’s emotional life ends up in a highly commercial, yet widespread branch of the self-help industry. This situation stems from a contemporary demand for guidance and the doubtful process that this search can be. Oomes explores expressions of this social need and where it often leads. His work represents a space meant for self-exploration, similar to the quiet rooms and meditation pods sometimes offered in public settings. Only in this space, the process is co-opted by commercially minded “spiritual” figures through a visualization technique for sale called a Mind Movie. Its efficacy is backed by the questionable theory that visualizing desires will directly make one attract them. Considering the scale of the self-help industry and the mental health issues Oomes recognizes in his own environment, many people in Western societies are in need of guidance. But, as he has experienced, searching this often feels doubtful. Because truly effective and in-depth information is hard to find, self-research becomes more challenging. He and others don’t quite know where to look besides traditional Western practices, like seeing a psychologist. By confronting the viewer with the universe behind the integration of commerce with spirituality, Oomes aims to highlight the influence of spreading a romanticized and simplified version of hollistic practices. Furthermore, he questions a skeptical or romanticized perception towards these approaches that has formed among Westerners, and the role of image formation in this process.