Post-Koyaanisqatsi

This project reimagines Godfrey Reggio's 1982 film "Koyaanisqatsi" for our surveillance era. While the original depicted "life out of balance" through industrialization and militarization, it predated our digital monitoring age.

By applying OpenCV and blob detection algorithms to Reggio's iconic imagery, this work transforms the footage into a meditation on surveillance technologies. The processed visuals render humans and environments as data points to be tracked and analyzed—mirroring how modern systems reduce us to patterns of behavior.

This reinterpretation suggests we've entered a "post-Koyaanisqatsi" phase where being watched has become normalized. It invites viewers to consider how Reggio's warnings have manifested in ways he couldn't have anticipated, and what new forms of imbalance characterize our surveillance society.

Original Film by Godfrey Reggio
Video Reinterpretation & Processing: Seungyong Moon
OpenCV & Blob Detection Implementation: Seungyong Moon