Duree

Abstract

This research investigates the conflict between Western "productive time", a linear, capitalist framework that induces future-oriented anxiety, and the classical Indian philosophical concept of Kala, which approaches time as a cyclical, infinite duration. In Western institutional and economic spaces, time is treated as a scarce resource to be managed, alienating individuals from their lived experience. To challenge this paradigm, this project utilizes the methodology of sensory ethnography, deploying formal cinematic strategies such as "sonic leakage," extreme telephoto compression, and acousmatic tension. By rejecting narrative efficiency and objective explanation, these methods aim to disrupt the anthropocentric gaze and force an embodied, physical reaction to duration. The culmination of this research is Duree, a 10-minute experimental natural history documentary. The film systematically contrasts environments constructed to enforce productive time, such as a watchmaker's workshop and a university library, against spaces of deep duration, including a sound healer's studio and the rugged landscapes of Montana. Through unbroken observations and hyper-specific sound design, layering the mechanical ticking of escapements with the resonance of Tibetan bowls and geological wind, the film treats time as a material substance. Ultimately, Duree concludes that "quiet" is not an empty void, but an active, vibrating presence. By requiring the audience to endure deep time, the project demonstrates that cyclical duration can collapse the perceived distance between internal human rhythms and the eternal natural world, serving as a quiet act of reclamation against the acceleration of modern media.