We R Viral

Wiki information, personal insights, spoken word poetry, rap, and video samples coalesce into this audiovisual essay by Yoav Ruda. Dealing with cultural and social evolution in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the artist mixes all of these ingredients to portray the critical moment we live in, and to call for positive action.

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We R Viral
Until recently, the word “viral” was mostly associated with keyboard cats, corny K-pop, and Freakout Fails. Now the original meaning of the word is having a comeback.

Yoav Ruda - We R Viral (Tohu Visual Essay)

Yoav Ruda, We R Viral, 2020, video, 2:27 min

Viruses have a significant role in our ecosystem. For example, they are important mortality agents of phytoplankton, the base of the food chain in aquatic environments.

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Yoav Ruda, Darwin Portrait Organic Remix, 2020, projection photography
Yoav Ruda, Darwin Portrait Organic Remix, 2020, projection photography
 

Enjoy the Silence: Lockdown Meditation
When was the last time you had a chance to take a break from the rat race?
Enjoy the silence, meditate on it.

Yoav Ruda - Enjoy the Silence (Tohu Visual Essay)

Yoav Ruda, Enjoy the Silence, 2020, video, 2:00 min
 

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Yoav Ruda, Mushroom Tree Hybrid, 2020, projection photography
Yoav Ruda, Mushroom Tree Hybrid, 2020, projection photography
 

Mutate: The constructive nature of disruption
In evolutionary biology, the engine of change is the mutation, a glitch, a disruption in the duplication process.
While in science evolution’s natural selection manifests itself through the refutation process, in culture it can be referred to the taste of the future, the test of time.

Yoav Ruda - Mutate (Tohu Visual Essay)

Yoav Ruda, Mutate, 2020, video, 2:39 min, virtual art images by Rein Bijlsma

The mutation has got to have viral attributes to distribute itself. The viral effect globally distributes languages, cultural myths, themes, memes, texts, technology, and human knowledge in general.


 

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Yoav Ruda, William Blake's Newton Monotype Organic Remix, 2020, projection photography
Yoav Ruda, William Blake's Newton Monotype Organic Remix, 2020, projection photography

Bloody Red Meat: the Zoonotic Origin of a Pandemic

Yoav Ruda - Bloody Red Meat (Tohu Visual Essay)

Yoav Ruda, Bloody Red Meat, 2020, video, 3:00 min
 

A virus can be harmless to one species and fatal to another. Bats and pangolins cope with the coronavirus just fine, apparently we don’t.

 

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Yoav Ruda , Hockney's Spring Deep House Remix, 2020, projection photography
Yoav Ruda , Hockney's Spring Deep House Remix, 2020, projection photography

The Real Deal: Exit plan - Recalculating Our Route
We have to adapt to the new situation.
The crisis gives us an opportunity to stop and recalculate our route.

Yoav Ruda - The Real Deal (Tohu Visual Essay)

Yoav Ruda, The Real Deal, 2020, video, 2:41 min