Ilyana Nedkova writes about
this piece:
"The ambiguity implicit in The Perfection Of Wisdom (The
Heart Sutra) is later used as a structural device in Dooks’
short digital film Tathagata Tales,
2004.The idea that there is no permanent self or being
seems to be embodied in the film’s rapidly changing scenes,
seemingly confusing close-ups and spooky motifs. This quick
cascade of black and white imagery is complemented by a
soundtrack which appears to be a Buddhist chant. The clue
to the flickering menagerie of stuffed animals such as
zebras, bats and monkeys and the recurrent image of a pair
of hands preserved in formaldehyde, comes perhaps from
knowing that when ‘tathagata’ is used in spiritual
literature, it refers to the indescribable essence of
reality, denoting one who has become authentic, or in
Dooks’ terms extended to the ‘genuine’ artifacts on the
museum shelves."
Basically, I gained access to The National Museum of
Scotland's depository where you can see lots of dead things
in formaldehyde, or taxidermy-d into frozen tableaux. I was
wanting to make a piece of work that helped me investigate
the variety of forms life can take to help me in my
understanding of natural selection. To see these millions
of life-forms suspended in mid-pose, natural or otherwise,
made me question what I was comprised of. Around this time
I was investigating the Buddhist notion of "sunyata" or
emptiness of permanent unchanging self. This is a central
Buddhist idea which states that all phenomena are "empty,"
ie dependent and conditioned on other phenomena and
therefore without essence. I was trying to reconcile myself
to the notion that this wasn't a nihilist teaching.
I made a soundtrack of the recitation of the salutations to
the "three jewels" of Buddhism: The Buddha, The
Teachings and The Community supporting the teachings
of The Buddha. Then followed the "five precepts" of
Buddhism (or vows if you like) - alongside a very rapid
succession of images - the soundtrack makes the anchor for
mindful practice of "skilful means" and the imagery is the
choas and cycles of the natural world. Allegory for a
steady vessel on a rough sea.