Hardcore, do you dream of me?

Hardcore, Do You Dream of Me? is an experimental short film that explores spectacle through constructed realities. The work draws on wrestling promos, found footage, meme culture, and virtual idols to examine how extreme fantasy and hardcore become a comforting force within the constant pressure of digital life. The film began as a monologue addressed to “hardcore” itself. It was performed by a voice actor, motion-captured, and transformed into a virtual idol. I then built around the monologue with found footage, 3D animation, personal vlogs, drag performance, fourth-wall breaks, and audio. The piece is assembled entirely through remixing. By remixing fragments of hardcore culture and fantasy, the film constructs a meta-spectacle where authorship, identity, and authenticity begin to blur. Editing becomes an act of hardcore performance and perseverance, revealing how images, narratives, and feelings are continuously manufactured, circulated, and absorbed into the body. I made 21 versions of this film. I edited until I physically couldn’t anymore, in the name of hardcore.