Geological Filmmaking

Every film image is geological. As a technical medium derived from the metals and minerals extracted from the earth, every moving image is materially embedded in the world it records. It is also temporally linked to the almost inconceivably vast deep time of the planet’s formation. What would it mean to make films in response to this situation? Geological Filmmaking argues that the challenge lies in situating oneself in the space between the concrete object of a film and the broader planetary conditions of its existence. The nuances of this position are at once formal, ethical and political. Sasha Litvintseva discusses her process of developing such a film practice as a way of tackling the perceptual and aesthetic difficulties presented by ongoing ecological crises. These concerns are explored through the prism of the author’s own films about asbestos and sinkholes in their respective economic and colonial contexts. Geological Filmmaking develops a new genre of writing rooted in a reciprocity between the practice of making films and the theoretical study of the relations they participate in. Litvintseva expands current conversations in the environmental humanities through building on the rich legacy of experimental film as a tool for producing alternative modes of experiencing the world. The book is intended for readers from a broad range of backgrounds, looking for new ways of dealing with questions about the life and death of our planet

Geological Filmmaking

Every film image is geological. As a technical medium derived from the metals and minerals extracted from the earth, every moving image is materially embedded in the world it records. It is also temporally linked to the almost inconceivably vast deep time of the planet’s formation. What would it mean to make films in response to this situation? Geological Filmmaking argues that the challenge lies in situating oneself in the space between the concrete object of a film and the broader planetary conditions of its existence. The nuances of this position are at once formal, ethical and political. Sasha Litvintseva discusses her process of developing such a film practice as a way of tackling the perceptual and aesthetic difficulties presented by ongoing ecological crises. These concerns are explored through the prism of the author’s own films about asbestos and sinkholes in their respective economic and colonial contexts. Geological Filmmaking develops a new genre of writing rooted in a reciprocity between the practice of making films and the theoretical study of the relations they participate in. Litvintseva expands current conversations in the environmental humanities through building on the rich legacy of experimental film as a tool for producing alternative modes of experiencing the world. The book is intended for readers from a broad range of backgrounds, looking for new ways of dealing with questions about the life and death of our planet

Geological Filmmaking

In recent years, media studies has developed theoretical models which consider the material aspects of media technologies. In the context of the widespread ecological crisis, such studies have included analyses of media as products of the extraction of geological materials. My doctoral project of ‘geological filmmaking’ contributes to this growing set of discourses by experimenting, on a conceptual and artistic level, with the reciprocal relations between geology and film. Building on existing theoretical studies of the geological materiality of the filmic medium, it explores formal and temporal intersections between film and geology in order to engage with some of the representational challenges posed by the ecological crisis. ‘The geological’ here acts as a perceptual and cognitive extremity of the human (in)ability to grasp processes unfolding across vast spatio-temporal scales. Through an integrated theory-practice methodology my project takes two specific geological phenomena as prisms through which to explore the greater philosophical problems encountered at the intersections of human and geological timescales. In the process of making two films – one focused on sinkholes, the other on asbestos – the geological has revealed itself to be inextricably tied to socio-economic processes. It has thus become an urgent demand, requiring a response here and now. This study is an attempt to offer such a response. By reading film and geology through each other, I have staged an encounter between the moments in which their reciprocity illuminates key issues surrounding the anthropogenic ecological crisis, both in its vastness and proximity, its longevity and immediacy. I have also taken some steps towards outlining an artistic methodology for engaging with planetary ecological issues via the medium of film

Adrift Residency (solo programme)

Adrift is a residency programme curated by Bahía Colectiva in collaboration with Los Angeles Filmforum where filmmakers connect with audiences and other practitioners by sharing a virtual archive of the process materials behind their film and video works. The materials showcased may include: texts, images, sounds, music, research notes, drawings, sculpture, found objects, film references, food recipes, news reports, text messages, accidental encounters, inspirations, conversations, arguments, dreams, etc. Existing in virtuality, Adrift is a borderless space for community building and broadening collective knowledge between filmmakers, artists, curators and enthusiasts. Sasha Litvintseva and Beny Wagner were artists in residence 15 - 19 October 2021. Working collaboratively since 2017, their films, texts and lectures focus on the moving image as a tool for the active production of new worlds. Their practice has been driven by questions about the thresholds between the body and its surroundings, knowledge regimes and power, modes of organizing and perceiving the natural world. The archive of unseen materials was made accessible through Bahía Colectiva’s online platform. The film screening and discussion on the exposed archive were streamed through Los Angeles Filmforum’s website. Programmed by Bahía Colectiva. Films Screening Online October 15-19, 2021 Live Q&A with Filmmakers and Programmers on October 1

Geological Filmmaking: Seeing Geology Through Film and Film Through Geology

This article is originally published at http://www.transformationsjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Trans32_7_litvintseva.pdf

Robust PID Controller Design on Quantum Fuzzy Inference: Imperfect KB Quantum Self-Organization Effect-Quantum Supremacy Effect

Quantum PID controller design based on quantum fuzzy inference from two K-gains ( and ) of classical PID (with constant K-gains) controllers investigated. Computational intelligence toolkit as soft computing technology in learning situations applied. Quantum approach performance in design of robust conventional controllers as intractable classical task of control system theory demonstrated. Simulation of intelligent control Benchmark demonstrated

Effects and Risks of Digital Quality of Life in Russian Regions

Widespread digital transformation significantly changed people’s quality of life. We hypothesise that the digital component of people’s quality of life had a positive but differential impact on economic growth in Russian regions during 2015–2019. Moreover, economic and institutional risks occurring at the current stage of digital transformation could negatively affect economic development. The research pays special attention to the institutional factor, namely, project management quality and its influence on real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in Russian regions. Methods of economic research were used such as index, rating, expert evaluation methods as well as regression and panel data models (including those with dummy variables). Transformation assessment was based on an integral index proposed by the authors called the Russian regional index of digital component of people’s quality of life (RRIDCPQL). The value of this digital index was increasing during 2015–2019. The hypotheses of statistically significant influence of the digital quality of life, regional and temporal unobserved factors on real GDP per capita in 2015–2019 were confirmed. However, the study rejected the hypotheses of the positive impact of digitalisation on the unemployment rate and on the decrease in the share of government employees. Positive influence of digitalisation on the divorce rate was revealed while its negative influence on economic criminality and real income per capita of the population was partially confirmed. The importance of project management quality of the program “Digital economy of the Russian Federation” for regional development was demonstrated. The research results presenting new data on the growth of digital economy can be used to adjust the implementation of digital projects in Russian regions

Genomic epidemiology of Cryptococcus yeasts identifies adaptation to environmental niches underpinning infection across an African HIV/AIDS cohort.

Emerging infections caused by fungi have become a widely recognized global phenomenon and are causing an increasing burden of disease. Genomic techniques are providing new insights into the structure of fungal populations, revealing hitherto undescribed fine-scale adaptations to environments and hosts that govern their emergence as infections. Cryptococcal meningitis is a neglected tropical disease that is responsible for a large proportion of AIDS-related deaths across Africa; however, the ecological determinants that underlie a patient's risk of infection remain largely unexplored. Here, we use genome sequencing and ecological genomics to decipher the evolutionary ecology of the aetiological agents of cryptococcal meningitis, Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii, across the central African country of Zambia. We show that the occurrence of these two pathogens is differentially associated with biotic (macroecological) and abiotic (physical) factors across two key African ecoregions, Central Miombo woodlands and Zambezi Mopane woodlands. We show that speciation of Cryptococcus has resulted in adaptation to occupy different ecological niches, with C. neoformans found to occupy Zambezi Mopane woodlands and C. gattii primarily recovered from Central Miombo woodlands. Genome sequencing shows that C. neoformans causes 95% of human infections in this region, of which over three-quarters belonged to the globalized lineage VNI. We show that VNI infections are largely associated with urbanized populations in Zambia. Conversely, the majority of C. neoformans isolates recovered in the environment belong to the genetically diverse African-endemic lineage VNB, and we show hitherto unmapped levels of genomic diversity within this lineage. Our results reveal the complex evolutionary ecology that underpins the reservoirs of infection for this, and likely other, deadly pathogenic fungi