I could say that ‘Close Encounters’ followed from the following assignment I gave myself:

Mark the beginning (A) of a ritual/paradigm/world.
Mark its ending (B).

Walk from A to B.
What do you see?

Do its inhabitants greet you with open arms? Or do they approach with caution or even, suspicion? The answer is often: both. Your mission is to observe, and so you observe. Yet for some reason, you feel that you’ve failed. You feel alienated. The act of marking point A and point B has rendered you unable to focus on anything other than point A and point B.

Return home, gather your thoughts.
What to do next?

Return to said ritual/paradigm/world (repeat).

Start at the ending (B) and walk toward the beginning (A).
Only this time, walk slower.

Return home, gather your thoughts (rinse).

Repeat.

Rinse and Repeat.
Rinse and Repeat.

Something might catch your eye, as the outlining of said world (marked by point A and B) starts to fade.