Porosity Valley 2: Tricksters

Last and First Men

February 2020 •English

As the end approaches inexorably, the last humans, living millions of years into the future, send a message to the humanity of the present that is both a plea for help and a warning, but also an epic tale of evolution, decline and hope.

AT MOre SPHERES

October 2020 •English

In the nearby future, the Gulf stream may certainly collapse in itself as the percentage of saltwater and sweet water in the oceans is changing dramatically. More and more glaciers are melting worldwide introducing an enormous amount of sweet water into the seas which causes a disbalance of the ocean water streams. There will be not only a rise of the sea levels which may flood coast by cities but also the "power engine" of the Gulf stream which is the "heating system" for Northern Europe is losing its force and energy. Therefore parts of the earth might become very cold and at the same point other parts too hot to live on. So the equilibrium of the earth's temperature is going to be mad. Is there any escape? Maybe leaving mother earth to explore the deep space of our universe? There will be neither sounds nor noises, only freezing silence as there is no echo, no resonance in space. 12x12 Moving Images = 144 moments of cold space

Electric Angel

October 1981 •Greek

A typical experimental film, in which a variety of audiovisual techniques are used to create the sense of polymorphic eroticism as developed by European and Mediterranean cinematography of the 20th century. Combining the methods of “animation” and “live action”, this intricate work embodies the idea of an “ars combinatoria”. The structure is loose, with neither a central axis nor a point where everything converges, contributing greatly to the open-ended character of the film, where rhythm is the key element.

The Role of Chance

January 1984 •French

"The Role of Chance" ("La part du hasard") focuses exclusively on drawing and painting techniques used by the painter Henri Dimier. Shot over several weeks in the same artist's studio, the film shows works in their different phases, processes rarely explained or little known. It also addresses many practical issues (choice of paper, pigment grinding, reports drawings, put the tiles, cliches, etc) as well as broader questions of method and inspiration (use of space, the role of contours, power of suggestion perspectives, use of random processes). Patrick Bokanowski sought with this film to restore the spirit of this teaching, showing how to bend a note or sometimes revealing an essential mystery of creation.

The Woman Who Powders Herself

January 1972 •French

A study of human anxieties about beauty, youth and objectification.

The Angel

May 1982 •French

The climbing of an immense staircase made up of the most varied stairs. Symbolic scenes occur on different levels where characters seem to be prisoners of their deeds and of their own folly. The steep staircase leads little by little towards the zones of great light where human beings and nonhuman beings meet.

Thick Air

August 2020 •English

An experimental music ensemble is recording an album. They want a very specific sound: the sound of thick air. The sound engineer struggles to understand and to find that sound. A tale of sleepless nights and loud music, a noise-injected collage composed of diaristic footage, a found narrative (memories of a popular 60s band), original music and field recordings.

Tick Tack

January 1957 •

Conceived, drawn and animated live by a team of patients from a psychiatric clinic, this achievement presents, in the eyes of its author, less interest on a purely cinematographic level than on that of human experience. It is the disturbing wordless story of a woman and a man living in a strange setting where objects are endowed with life that they have chosen to tell us through this theater of shadow puppets in cut out figurines. Their characters will know a tragic fate since carried in the air by balloons, they will finally be devoured by a horrible dragon.

Une visite au musée

May 2021 •French

Hellhounds

August 2013 •English

A first person account of Ross Graves, an alcoholic drifter who is constantly hunted by demonic bounty hunters and a spiritual being to whom he sold his soul.

Between the hotel and city hall

December 2020 •Korean

The hotel overlooks the city hall. The city hotel returns the glance. Glances bounce off each other, become directions and points headed towards, together, and outwards all just one frame apart in between the hotel and city hall.

Borodino

August 2020 •Russian

An experimental sitcom, shot in the style of silent films of the early twentieth century. A parody of military-patriotic films. The plot of the film is the battle of the Russian army with Napoleon in 1812.

H(o)me(o)pa®t(h)y

November 2020 •English

H(o)me(o)pa®t(h)y is a home entertainment healing system based on Homoeopathic medicine which one can at least to a certain extent autonomously manage as first aid tool, if you are skilled enough. As an allusion to David Cronenberg's Videodrome where the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn is desperate for new programming to attract viewers by establishing a new TV show dedicated to torture and punishment, H(o)me(o)pa®t(h)y instead is based on joy and healing. But will there be an overdose of globules? Insert 1 globules and start your solo home party! Cure yourself on so many occasions and relive a full relief. Your own H(o)me(o)pa®t(h)y kit is now available. Don't worry, be homoeopathic!

One Day Before Our Era

January 1977 •Russian

Montage of still photos with lighting effects.

The Beach

August 1992 •French

Reworked and colored images of people playing at the seashore.

By the Lake

September 1994 •French

Bokanowski returns to the complex - and mind-bending - optical array of pinholes, mirrors, prisms, and refractive substrates of his earlier film, La Plage to create the whimsical and playful Au bord du lac. The film is composed of mundane, everyday scenes of recreation and leisure on an idyllic, sunny day at a park that overlooks a lake - rowing a boat, playing a game of volleyball, rollerskating, bicycling, reading a newspaper, sunbathing, riding on horseback, or strolling on the promenade - shot through optical distortions to create fractured and knotted images that resemble embellished, gothic fairytale illustrations or appear to resolve into morphing, geometric patterns of fluid motion. Evoking the vibrant colors and sun-soaked palette of an invigorated Vincent van Gogh in Arles, Bokanowski transforms the quotidian into an infinitely mesmerizing dynamic kaleidoscope of shape-shifting textures and self-reconstituting objects of organic, abstract art.

Windowlicker

December 2020 •Korean

A mysterious light appeared in the city and quickly disappeared.

Cherry and Virgin

Invalid date •Japanese

CHERRY AND VIRGIN—a 'nervous romance' about Ryou, a 32-year-old erotic manga artist who has no experience with women, and Ami, a 28-year-old fujoshi who has a bad impression of real men.

Balamos

October 1982 •Greek

In order to buy a horse, a man wanders in the bazaars of Thessaly. His journey will take him further than he imagines, as old prophets, forgotten witches and vampire princes will find himself on his way.

Verrückt

March 2021 •English

Procedurally-generated frames slowly expand in density to visually explore the mind of a psychopathic, narcissistic teenager, up until the demise of the subject.