Without any limiting sense of scale, the beauty of the earth, sun and stars is explored from inside an enormous human skull that is orbiting above the Earth. Borrowed from a long tradition of ‘vanitas’ in Western art history, the human skull is a motif that invites the viewer to meditate on their own mortality.
By Shaun Gladwell for BADFAITH.
Also in this combined programme
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Homo Sapiens (coda)
The final minutes of Geyrhalter’s monumental documentary evoke a planet deserted by its most ambitious inhabitants, the human species. Only ruins rema -
Untitled
When this painting was first displayed in 2014, all one could see was a blank canvas. By now it evokes an other-worldly landscape, a colourful… -
Untitled (Tea Set)
Frozen milk in the shape of a tea set is presented in a showcase, reminding us of Snow White’s glass coffin. No eternal life without… -
Fallen Astronaut
Two years after Apollo 11 landed the first men on the moon, the Apollo 15 mission took not only the first lunar rover, but also… -
Veronica
Two projectors are animating robot legs. Driven by the zeros and ones of an Arduino, the sound of the projectors provides a mechanical rhythm for… -
Stardance
Dust particles float about in front of a black backdrop. Lit by rays of light, they dance in all directions in a timelessness equal to… -
Private Human
Hanging like a baroque drapery, this fusion of soft, flesh-coloured fabric with metal ornaments evokes the interior of the body and the organs it cont -
Puppet Theatre
Blending modern architecture with elements of fairy-tale castles, this futuristic toy theatre also folds together into a rocket, pointing to the heave -
Interregnum
Hordes of people discipline themselves into a long row or a slow parade. Grief is on their faces, but the reason for their distress remains… -
The White
Two white TV screens are reflected on a glass plate. That plate doesn’t show a white image, as could be expected, but two dark streams of… -
A Timeline in Four Layers
A three-dimensional timeline introduces the rich history of future-oriented thought and practice from which the conceptual tools of futures studies ar -
Toynbee Convector
Photographic ‘images of a future’, shot in current reality to the detailed instructions of professional futurists, as a deliberately literal interpret -
Shelter #6
Shiny aluminium and gold-coloured sheets were once a typical ingredient of aeronautic aesthetics. Nowadays most people identify it with an emergency b -
toxiThropea
toxiThropea poetically researches the tense and toxic relationship between humans and nature and exposes our inability to maintain our only biosphere. -
Red Balloons
A ladder defies gravity with the aid of two bright red balloons. Its triumphant pose is at the same time the denial of its very…
Film details
- Year
- 2017
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2018
- Medium/Format
- -
- Premiere status
- -
- Director
- Shaun Gladwell
