“Pain, Suffering” is an audiovisual composition addressing cognitive dissonance in relation to the objectification and exploitation of non-human beings as food or commodities. Through images, monologues, and sound, it seeks to embody this fractured state of perception
At its core, the work features monologues that reflect on the conditions of animals in factory farms and, more broadly, on the shared capacity for pain and suffering between humans and non-humans. These voices underscore the inability—or refusal—to acknowledge that a piece of meat is the body of a living being who has been tortured and killed. Among the texts used are those by activist and educator Gary Yourofsky and by musician and activist Moby.
Musically, “Pain, Suffering” employs distortion and spectral filtering as metaphors for cognitive dissonance: clean sounds are warped until they become abrasive, or filtered to the point of being unrecognizable. The composition is audio-reactive, meaning the imagery responds directly to the evolving sonic landscape.
Visually, the piece juxtaposes documentary footage of factory farming and animal violence with generated and processed images, layering the real and the abstract to intensify the sense of unease and fracture. The result is an immersive environment where dissonance becomes both subject and aesthetic.
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