pendulum (web edition)
director : benjamin ducroz
assistant : emma morgan
sound : singlesignal
year : 2014
duration : 1"21"
pendulum consists of a coreographed hand held camera move repeated in many different stunning locations around new zealand. mostly along the west coast of the south island. the shots were later stitched together side by side to create a parallel effect between the different locations.
thank you to the Centre for Creative Arts at La trobe university for their contribution towards the film.
thanks emma & nic
locations include :
east coast - karatanee, palmerston
central - st bathans, cromwell, queenstown, glenorchy
west coast - wainui falls, cape farewell, punakaiki, lake lanthe, franz josef glacier, haast pass, knights point.
solidsignal (web edition)
director : benjamin ducroz
sound : singlesignal
year : 2013
duration : 1"05"
solidsignal is both a film and kinetic sculpture. it is a seamlessly looping and modulating kinetic sculpture, animated during timelapse photography. along with presenting many of melbourne’s urban landscapes, the work explores changes of form, colour and sound using repetition through time. multidimensional layers reveal themselves through the movement of the sculpture. these layers are captured by looking at the ensemble of sculpture and landscape.
the sculpture was very heavy - weighing around 40kg. It was a challenge getting it to locations in the right weather, a lesson learnt. a live component of the work was presented in october 2013. this involved an automated version of the work revolving and modulating to the sounds of 'singlesignal'.
thankyou to the city of melbourne, nic whyte, rowan dinning & matthew adams.
cumulo (web edition)
director : benjamin ducroz
sound : singlesignal
year : 2013
duration : 3"12"
made for 'channels' - the australian video art festival
exhibition essay extract by eugenia lim
a process work by Benjamin Ducroz hints at the elusive nature of chasing clouds and the hard labour that goes with frame-by-frame animation in 40+ degree heat. The parched landscape of Roebourne in the Pilbara region of Western Australia provides the setting for a delicate and infinitely looped animation of a geometric form, hand-cranked against the hot, desert sky. Ducroz’s process of chasing clouds, hand-animating against the elements was, a meditative and solitary one. A contemporary animation creation story of sorts, as the artist says, “In the beginning, moving image apparatus were hand cranked. A sequence of frames would present themselves in fast succession - giving the illusion of movement. The same principle applies today”. Shifting attention to the main gallery, we see another portal into the atmosphere – Ducroz’s mobius-like work cumulo (the resultant outcome of all that painstaking animation) projected onto a life-size monolith as we enter the gallery space. Ducroz deftly navigates the high-tech and the handmade in a captivating body of work that considers human perception and movement in urban and remote landscapes through tightly choreographed and dexterous animation. In cumulo, horizon lines rotate, storm clouds amass and recede to a haunting minor-key soundtrack by single-signal (Ducroz’s ongoing audio collaboration with Nic Whyte), underscoring the endless turn of a kinetic sculptural form, powered by human hand in a harsh landscape seemingly devoid of human presence.
--
text by stuart campbell
when the world began, the sky god gave immense power to it's sons
it told them "everything here is to be sculpted, everything is clay to be purged together as it once was"
following the footsteps of their creator, the sons began
a slow repetitive march, shaping mountains in a day
lifting soil on to their backs, singing the creator's song
heat boils delirium on the horizon
the sons of the creator see dreams in the haze
speaking only through toil
lifting the earth to the sky, because they can
never bored of their power
clawing through sand
all sons convene, bowing their heads once more
searching for the secrets of the universe
the wind laughs and coos torment, "you will never find them"
hungry and restless
ignoring their tired bones and burning skin
the sons of the creator, dig deeper
deafened by pounding fists, even their shadows won't cling to them now
necks crane,
claws dig deeper,
their heads disappear
swallowed in mad routine
forgetting to resurface
the wind betrays them now
sweeping sand over their backs until all the sons are consumed
"everything is here to be sculpted
everything is clay to be purged together as it once was"
illustration by stuart campbell
praxis
director : benjamin ducroz
sound : singlesignal
year : 2011
duration : 1:08
format : 1920 x 1080
praxis follows a path walked since i was ten years old. the path is from my fathers home, to his work in high altitude, located in the town of chamonix, france. a three hour walk i have made countless times, arriving at a summit of 2525 meters. praxis is a continued investigation into form and movement, presenting the topology and many surfaces of a high mountain region where i grew up. praxis captures an environment which has provided me with the ambition to keep moving no matter which direction i take.
strings
director : benjamin ducroz
sound : singlesignal
year : 2011
duration : 1:08
format : 1920 x 1080
strings presents a collection of colourful shapes colliding. a continuation of 'big bang' motifs explored in previous paper based works.
8
director : benjamin ducroz
sound : michael prior & benjamin ducroz
year : 2008
duration : 01’20
format : 1024 x 576
prizes / previous screenings : a dog barks (london), taiwan national museum of fine art.
an octet of pulsing performances by radiating aπ abstracted and contracted in a wavering rendition of hyperkinetic dissections beset by mathematical protractions in workspace beyond space.
pin
director + sound : benjamin ducroz
year : 2007
duration : 00’32”
format : 1024 x 576
pin is a fast paced, stop-motion animation that brings made-made elements into the natural environment, blending them to create a human intervention within a forest. the spinning, stretching and exploding geometric shapes in pin play on the movement of particles and pixels alike, implying a foundation of construction in both the forest and the image. skilfully produced using paper, pencils, and digital composition, pin is a vibrant, dynamic work that provides an immediately engaging investigation of form and movement.
- emma mcrae