How to Get Rid of Loneliness is a performative video piece featuring the Seastone Necklace, found for the exhibition Magical Hotspot at Vent Space Gallery in 2020. The work explores pseudomagic through symbolic ritual and sensory interaction. In the video, the jewellery witch Seraphita taps the stone pendant with her long fingernails, as though typing messages on a phone screen. Whispering affirmations of connection and belonging, she performs a ritual designed to dispel loneliness by transforming the stone into a magical communication device.
The piece employs Haptic Visuality, focusing on the tactile experience of the stone’s rough surface and Seraphita’s tapping gestures. Close-up shots and amplified tapping sounds create a sensory dialogue between touch and sound, transforming the stone into a charged object of longing and hope. This multisensory approach highlights the emotional resonance of seeking connection, merging personal desires with speculative ritual practices in a pseudomagical context.
Idea and performance: Darja Popolitova
Video effects: Ando Naulainen
Sound: Andres Nõlvak
© Darja Popolitova