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A young person turns toward a fictional meditation app as relief from the anxieties and claustrophobia of lockdown. We are sucked into a visual representation of what these apps lead you toward. The contradiction between meditation apps as profit seeking products versus legitimate spiritual aids is explored satirically.

Mass-market mindfulness has become a multi-million-pound industry. These apps commodify Buddhism and spirituality in the same predictable ways. Pocket-sized breathing exercises, sedative music, saturated images of nature, ASMR voices. These tropes inspire the visuals.

These apps are also fundamentally business products. The push to pay for premium content and undergoing a real spiritual journey is highlighted by; overlaying app design and videogame aspects within the animation.

Many of us are under inhuman pressure to stay on top of mental health. The message is not to damn these apps. They can be helpful. However, I’d like to temper expectations. We don’t need to subscribe to mindfulness culture. We can find our own peace in life. Perhaps one that doesn’t rely on apps.

New Creatives is supported by Arts Council England and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Arts.

Ciccio Coppola – Writer, Director and Animator
Dween Billbas – Sound Artist
Ivana Mazza-Coates – Voice Actress
Bec Evans (Dazed) – Executive Producer

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