About the Artist
Tanya Goehring and Trevor Jacobson are the creative duo known as The Automatic Message. They create surreal, emotional and immersive audiovisual experiences. Much of their work is psychological in nature and centers around themes of memory and the displacement thereof.
About the Project 'How to Make a Monster'
This project will dissect the messy, universal forces that create the monsters we carry inside - those internal critics, inherited judgments, and whispered warnings that shape how we think of ourselves and move through the world.
At its core will be a multichannel film following one protagonist as they confront a cast of seven characters – “the jury” – each embodying a different internalized voice.
The installation will not just tell a story—it will build a mind around the viewer. Surrounded on all sides, the audience will step directly into the protagonist’s inner workshop, witnessing the construction, distortion, and confrontation of their own personal monsters in a visceral, embodied experience of self-perception. Along the way, the work will also reveal subtle techniques for transforming negative self-talk into positive, empowering voices, giving viewers not just insight into the inner workings of the mind, but tools for navigating and reshaping it.
