Suspension and Disbelief
Maps Goodspace, 2025
Suspension of disbelief is the concept wherein we allow ourselves to displace our critical thinking towards what is real or possible in exchange for entertaining the complexities of a created world. Think of movies where animals talk– we unconsciously suspend our disbelief that animals cannot talk so that we can enjoy whatever the story is actually about, thus allowing other, more nuanced truths to be investigated. What happens when we catch ourselves suspending our disbelief for the sake of coping with the real world, allowing for truths to prevail that we don’t actually believe in? I’ve been calling this Suspension and Disbelief; when cultural or political immersion is broken by unsettling messaging/propaganda/ideas, and we are left suspended within it all, seeing truths we weren’t supposed to see and don’t know how to disrupt, in disbelief.
Tension between dull, dark, natural color and bright astringent color prompts a pause that simulates the pause I feel when consuming the news or world these days. Is it real? Is it possible? Is this the new real? I’m suspended, and I know that I’m suspended, and I’m wrestling with my disbelief of what I perceive to be quiet and rapid cultural change. Where do you devote your attention when everything is important and loud? How do you find respite to keep you going amongst such constant need and pressure? Where do you go to think when you voluntarily or unconsciously disconnect from the world you are living in? These scenes ride the line of otherworldliness and reality, allowing the viewer to suspend their disbelief for visual immersion or to reject immersion for active critique.