There is More to Reality
synopsis

In pursuit of adequate means to represent reality, I focused for a while on the idea of a fractal-holographic structure of the universe. It seems plausible and is visually attractive. The idea that the universe operates like a fractal hologram, where each part contains information about the whole, is metaphorically reflected in art through the so-called "Droste effect". Simply speaking, a picture within a picture. Although the name of this effect dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, it can be found in paintings as old as the Middle Ages.
Inspired by an idea of recurring structure, the animation shows a woman standing in a Dutch landscape. The woman opens her handbag, looks inside, and sees a field of tulips. There are many fields on which other women stand, holding their bags, opening them, looking inside... and so the storyline loops. Some of the sequences are simple repetitions. But there are also numerous variations applied to make the animation visually engaging — and, in a way, closer to what we might intuit as “natural.” Repetitive structures are not identical. There is more to reality; the reality is multilayered.

 Joanna E. Kabala, November 2025, Eindhoven