Said Once, Say It Again - Final Project





Video Link: The Perfect Meditation


For the final project, I was inspired by Ella Jenning's ritual performance and Jorgen Leth's short film, "The Perfect Human". 

After hearing Ella talk about her experience and reading her reflection, I felt that the core of her performance had two pieces. First, she went everyday regardless of the weather, time of day, or personal energy levels. When making the video, I followed this logic and stood out in the rain for a few minutes (even though rain was not the original plan). Second, she intentionally worked to remain present for the entire ritual, specifically putting guidelines like "do not wiggle" or "do not crack knuckles" for herself. I included these phrases (and several more of her own words) in the video to remind the viewer of the intention. In the end, she felt that this consistency and intentionality transformed the homework assignment into a real, meaningful ritual - a ritual that was actually grounding for her. 

This worked well with the spirit (at least in my interpretation) of "The Perfect Human". The short film intrigued me so much because there is no perfect human. Or maybe there is, and anyone at anytime can be the perfect human. The characters in the film are perfect humans only because the filmmaker says so, and maybe we take his word for it. 

I combined these two thoughts and realized that Ella's rituals were never objectively "perfect" at the start, but perhaps they ended well. Were they perfect because Ella left feeling rejuvenated, or were they perfect on their own and just happened to be the exact thing that she needed that day? 

Or were they not perfect at all? Are they only perfect because I'm saying so? 

Of course, this all depends on personal preference. What is perfect to one is not so great to another, but we can choose to thoroughly enjoy what is put in front of us. "Perfect" can be whatever we want it to be. 

I worked some of these concepts into a little poem/narration and kept the video simple because I felt that honored the simplicity of Ella's original ritual.


Song is "Eyes Closed and Traveling" by Peter Broderick.

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