Simon Fujiwara Empathy I, 2018

Empathy I consists of a fully-enclosed theater in which a pair of dynamic simulator chairs are rigged and programmed to move in sync with a circa 4 minute video projected on a large curved screen. Experienced in an intimate setting–the work can only be viewed by two visitors at a time–"Empathy I" translates and augments a range of visual stimuli into a physical experience that also includes multi-sensory stimuli (wind, water). Composed of found (internet) footage and sequences shot by the artist, and constructed without discernible narrative or structural logic, the material ranges from the quotidian and banal, sentimental or shrill, to the tragic and catastrophic.