VULGAR BATH (2025)

Project:

Winner of Best Spatial Installation, Emerging Media Arts Achievement Awards (May 2025), Vulgar Bath explores how we process personal grief and respond to the pain of others, often with avoidance or discomfort. Through grotesque yet tender imagery, the installation examines the stages of grief, transforming emotional unease into a meditative experience. As societal niceties are stripped away, the strange and repulsive begin to feel familiar, guiding viewers through a journey of emotional growth and understanding.

Created in collaboration with artist Hannah Romell, the piece was co-conceptualized by Hank Ball, who served as Director of Photography, Editor, and Interactive Designer. His cinematography, shot on both 16mm analog film and digital video, mirrored the tension between past and present, emphasizing nostalgia as a form of grief.

As Interactive Designer, Hank built an interactive phone booth using node-based programming, enabling visitors to record personal reflections that were woven into the installation’s soundscape, creating a living, evolving dialogue on grief. He also crafted the immersive audio bath and led the editing process, shaping the emotional rhythm and tone of the final film.

Blending analog textures with digital systems, Vulgar Bath asserts that embracing the past is essential to healing. It positions nostalgia not as a burden, but as a powerful tool for understanding grief as an integral, even beautiful, part of the human experience.

Camera / Software:
Canon R6 Mark II, 16mm Film, Dehancer, Adobe Suite, DaVinci Resolve, Max MSP, Ableton