In the film, Chalayan takes the viewer on a complex psychological journey through the contemporary urban landscapes of London and Istanbul, via the barren setting of Dungeness and an icy wilderness. As in F1 reportage, the perspective fluctuates from the objective to the subjective. At times the viewer is a mere bystander, following the speeding 'pod', with its androgynous female passenger, as it pursues its relentless route around them. At other times they find themselves cocooned on the inside, the pod acting as a calm refuge for reflection. Strands of the passenger's life begin to flash past, and we become aware of the symbolic dimension to the journey. As the pod tracChalayan examines how velocity affects our senses and memories.
The Artwise Solution: Artwise selected cutting-edge fashion designer Hussein Chalayan as the recipient of Tribe Art Commission2, based on his uncompromising vision and characteristically genre-defying practice. Chalayan responded to the challenge with place to passage, a highly complex project that incorporated such diverse elements as film footage, conceptual animation by neutral, and a soundtrack by Jean-Paul Dessy. Taking the viewer on a virtual journey in a pod-like vehicle, the five-screen installation is a highly poetic meditation on the effect of speed and technology on the contemporary psyche.