Hanging from a Curtain

An artist hides away in a dark room, devoid of light, almost as a prison. Shut out from the outside world and bathing in his own loneliness, he seeks only the comfort of art by drawing pictures of an imagined outside world and making masks of birds. Shut away from everything that makes us human– nature, touch, connection, love– he listens at the walls and reports the sound of the wind every single day, trying to guess the weather outside, imagining how it would feel on his skin.

After falling asleep, he wakes up in a strange alternate reality, in an endless field, among trees, grass, and the light of the Sun– a sort of Heaven of freedom. Besides him stands the Owl– a creature half human half bird, with owl wings and the owl mask which the artist has made. They talk, discussing matters of life, passion, fear, allowing the artist to contemplate his life and the anxieties that keep him locked in the dark room.

By the end, the Owl leaves him amongst the trees, as the artist stands admiring them. A merging between this dream-like space and reality is introduced, as groups of people come into frame, walking about the space. Some interact with the artist, and there is a sense of the regaining of connection. The artist becomes almost swallowed by this sea of all kinds of different human lives.