Directors’ Statement

“The very nature of materiality is in entanglement. Matter itself is always already open to, or entangled with “Other.” The intra-actively emergent “parts” of phenomena are co-constituted. Not only subjects but also objects are permeated through and through with their entangled kin; the other is not just on one’s skin, but in one’s bones, in one’s belly, in one’s heart, in one’s nucleus, in one’s past and future.” Karen Barad

In all of our works, Mark and I  wanted to use observations, experiences, and stories to attempt to explain the world. What if the quantum mechanism were to govern all things? Could we see it surface in daily living? Then maybe it could fully explain everything about the universe and link together. Moreover, perhaps humans will one day find an ultimate truth that can satisfy every inquiry.

The film draws inspiration from paradoxes of modern physics theories such as entanglement, quantum superposition, spacetime, wave-particle duality, and their intersection with artistry, intangible heritage, meaning and aesthetics of selected ceremonial textiles Maritime Silk Road, Indonesia (Sumatra). We seek to use the ancient symbolism found in Southeast Asian textiles to represent the invisible subatomic and counterintuitive concepts found in quantum physics.

The project does not explain quantum physics through scientific methods, hypothesis or math-based speculations. Instead, the project seeks to illustrate how science and art can intersect and inform one another.

This project revolves around Southeast Asian Fabrics as our primary interest and inspiration. Here we use fabric, the processes of making fabrics, and the material to explore quantum theories, exploring how they might relate to the common person. The quantum superposition principle states that every quantum state can be represented as a sum of two or more distinct states. Like a warp and weft at the start of the weaving, quantum systems, such as atoms, photons, or spins, may exist simultaneously in two distinct states. The quantum concept of wave-particle duality states that the electron behaves both as a particle and wave (Bobroff, 2014). The fabric structure shows how the whole cloth, back, and front, reveals its source, phase, and pattern between every warp and weft. 

The Patterns are created with every warp and weft, from formlessness to form. We look at the sequence of the horizontal and vertical almost like Binary, with 0 and 1 states. Furthermore, we think of Schrodinger’s cat and the possibility of superposition of states and choices and how every choice of warp or weft could relate to a Quantum Decision. Weaving and interlacing every warp and weft produces textile patterns. The opposing structures on the horizontal and vertical axes can be contrasted to binary with 0 and 1 states. The dualism where the complementary elements of the warp and weft create the whole and reconcile the vertical and horizontal forces recall the paradox of quantum superposition – a cat being alive and dead, reminiscent of Schrodinger’s cat experiment. A cat remains in superposition until it communicates with or is observed by the outside world. When this occurs, the superposition collapses into one of the possible definite states. Thus, as a result of weaving, any warp or weft option could be equated to a quantum decision, with a wide range of possible outcomes. We imagine a multi-dimensional space. 

In this tesseract of fabrics, each fabric contains important information about the world, whether parallels, space-time, or dimensions. The culmination of all of them in this space is but a visualization of presumably a whole truth where the seen and unseen worlds are together and appear to make sense. For this, we borrowed the many-worlds interpretation theory (MWI), where there could be all possible outcomes of quantum measurements physically realized in some parallel world or universe.

Moirai, Thread of Life has a metaphor for origin, the life span, link from past to present, and human destiny. The film is based on the many-worlds interpretation that we are some small part of the whole (fabric of the universe) and connected, entangled with our other invisible destinies via thread. Moirai is the Greek mythology Goddess of faith and destiny. She is weaving these destinies or allowing us to exist possibly at several places or states at once – in quantum superposition- where all possible outcomes exist. She connects the threads into one observable state and allows threads to be entangled in all possible existences.

The research funding from Ministry of Education was awarded in late 2020. However I was diagnosed with type of cancer stage 4 of Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma B-Cell in October 2020  and had go over series of chemotherapies.

We started research in January of 2021 with professor Rainer Helmut Dumke from NTU’s College of Science,  School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences, Division of Physics & Applied Physics and a member of the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) Singapore. Ms Sheryl Sim under Singapore SG government research programme join the team.

Thanks to Prof Rainer assistance, we obtained ongoing feedback on the accuracy of our original ideas and graphic storyboards. The contribution of his feedback was invaluable to the project. During this period, we were also conducting a study on textiles and the various craft traditions found in Southeast Asia (Maxwell & Gittinger, 2014). This not only suited the visual growth of the project but also brought me back in touch with my original traditional textile training and background in weaving, which spanned ten years. Ikat textiles from the Indonesian Archipelago, in particular, were the spark that kindled the idea of utilizing data photos for artificial intelligence-developed artworks. AI was initially utilized as a tool to previsualize several of the film’s most important ideas. Even though it was not used in the project’s final stage, it was nevertheless able to add a layer of intricacy to the conceptualization film’s textures. Being involved with this project was energizing and inspiring during my chemotherapy treatments.

In late March right after all of 9 chemotherapies were completed –   we approached Joshua Tan, director of Singapore based animation and VFX company CraveFx.  We worked with Joshua and his team on two previous films – Elysian Fields (2013) and Chrysalis (2016). Both films were winners of many accolades. We worked closely with CraveFX for about a year and half. Our son Tate Egon Chavez scored the piece over the course of summer 2022. Minor tweaks and film was completed in late December. It was still WIP demo showcased in LA ACM Siggraph. Distribution and submission to festivals  started in January of 2023..