"Beneath psychosis hides an experience out of which the self decays”
"Of Which The Self Decays" is an experimental film with a duration of 5 minutes and 50 seconds. The film explores the gradual process through which psychosis "erodes" the sense of self and reality. It is divided into three parts titled "Lebenswelt", "Wahnstimmung", and "Realitätsverlust"—terms derived from phenomenology and psychiatry.
The first part, "Lebenswelt" (lifeworld), describes reality as it is commonly perceived, while depicting the individual's distance from this experience of the self-evident world. "Wahnstimmung" (delusional mood) portrays the prodromal stage of an impending psychotic episode, culminating in "Realitätsverlust" (loss of reality), where the subject has finally lost touch with reality. These three stages are captured through the perspective of the same individual.
Formally, the film consists of music and black-and-white imagery. The former functions as the primary narrative axis, lending a mysterious, raw, brittle, and discordant atmosphere. Simultaneously, the visuals seek to capture the alienating urban landscape, the repulsive hidden details, and the "haunted" figures to convey the gradual mental collapse.