The Mulch Spider's Dream

16mm
14 minutes
colour
2018

Screenings:

Zumzeig Cinecooperativa (Barcelona)
Lumen Crypt Gallery (London)
Braquage (Paris)
Process (Riga)
Alchemy (Hawick)
Fracto (Berlin)
Analog Farm (Whitworth)
BIFF (Braziers Park)
Festival des Cinémas Différents et Expérimentaux de Paris (Paris)
Antimatter [Media Art] (Victoria)
Prisme#2 - Mire (Nantes)
Reprise de Prisme - La Bête Humain (Rennes)
OPEN SSA+VAS - Royal Scottish Academy (Edinburgh)
Les Inattendus (Lyon)
Filmkoop Wien (Vienna)
HIFF (Halifax)
Videodrome (Marseille)
EYE Filmmuseum (Amsterdam)
LaborBerlin (Berlin)
Belo Horizonte International Short Film Festival (Belo Horizonte)
Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris)
International Film Festival Innsbruck (Inssbruck)
Laboratório da Torre (Porto)
WAVE - Biennale des Arts Visuels (Saint Herblain)
Ribalta Experimental Film Festival (Vignola)
Labor Berlin (Berlin)
CU Boulder (Boulder)
The Brattle Theatre (Boston)
Visions (Montreal)
Ad Hoc (Toronto)
Colgate University (Hamilton, USA)
Emerson College (Boston)

In 1974 Thomas Nagel published his famous essay "What is it like to be a bat?" arguing that there is a specific mental state to each organism. Besides his critique toward the materialist theory of mind, the paper also explores the differences between human consciousness and the awareness of bats. According to Nagel subjectivity can not be shared. However, cinema might be a tool to do exactly that; sharing a lived experience of another creature.

This film attempts to kindle the vision of a spider by using experimental phytochemistry; creating organic shapes, rhythms and colours directly on expired 16mm film. The film is literally made in my back garden, using weeds and biodegradable chemistry to make images on expired film stock. I have called this type of image a phytogram. This pratice is extensively described here.