Khôra (Khora or Chora; Ancient Greek: χώρα)
is a philosophical term described by Plato in Timaeus as a receptacle, a space, or an interval. It is neither being nor nonbeing but an interval between in which the “forms” were originally held. Khôra “gives space” and has maternal overtones (a womb, matrix). A formless and unnameable “it” that we cannot identify but only evoke with images of unidentifiable places, like a kind of dissolution into the tohu wa bohu* (waste and void), what Levinas calls the il y a** (the Other – a formless void; a frightening neutrality devoid of meaning), the elemental night.
* Biblical Hebrew phrase found in the Book of Genesis 1:2. It is usually translated “waste and void”, “formless and empty”, or some variation of the same. It describes the condition of the earth before God said, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3). Precise translation of the phrase is difficult, as only the first word, “tohu,” appears to have any independent meaning.
** The idea of the other was formalized by Emmanuel Levinas, and later made popular by Edward Said in his well-known book Orientalism. Despite originally being a philosophical concept, othering has political, economic, social and psychological connotations and implications. The “Other”, as a general term in philosophy, can also be used to mean the unconscious, silence, insanity, the other of language (i.e., what it refers to and what is unsaid), etc.
Concept and visuals by Amar Mulabegović and Daniel Gregor {The Macula}
Concept and music/sound composed by Ondřej Skala {JTNB}
Special Thanks to our friends and co-working animators: Petr Krejčík, Michal Kotek, Dalibor Cé and Ondřej Hošek.
Photos & video by The Macula.
