The  video artwork ’perpetuated suspense’ is made of found footage from feature films. I collected similar stereotypical scenes from movies, where people are moving through a building with drawn weapons, tracing their antagonist who could be hidden behind the next corner. I considered these scenes stereotypical for a lot of action movies. In all scenes a certain tension is build up while the viewer is kept waiting for a crucial event. One expects that the suspense scene will suddenly be interrupted by a surprise moment. I put those chasing scenes from all kind of movies together and edited them in a way that they build a new continuity. By taking all these scenes out of their context and combine them in a looping animation, the suspense effect of each scene is losing itself in infinity.

perpetuated suspense

This video is made up of stereotype scenes from different feature films. The image of a thread, cable or anything similar followed by the camera is an often occurring symbol in film. It can function as a lead-in or a connection between two scenes. By putting several of these scenes together in a continuous loop, the viewer is put in a ‘waiting loop’. It shows how our eyes are trained to follow and we sometimes don’t mind that there is no storyline taking place.

storyline

the video installation luminous flux consists of macro recordings of drops of a fluid running down a surface. Due to reduced use of light, the imagery is very minimalistic. Sometimes the liquid, flowing in a natural movement down the screen, is only visible for a fraction of a second. The abstract visuals are accompanied with an alienated mechanical sound.  Luminous flux is a study of our perception of forms and the physicality of light and its behavior in space.

luminous flux

How do we define a film? If it consists of single photographs, where is the difference between both media? And, is there something in-between? ‘Cinematic shivers’ consists of still photographs which are animated to short sequences by making use of the stop motion technique. The results are photographs in motion, reminding of film scenes, taken out of their logical and chronological context. The scenes give only tiny bits of information about what could have happened. But instead of building up a narrative, the sequences are mixed up in a seemingly random way. This artwork questions our viewing habits and tries to reveal the essence of visual storytelling. In contrast to film stills, the images in this work are intangible. Just as suddenly as they leap into view, they disappear again. Like the medium film they are time-based, yet there is no beginning or end as it would be in cinema.

cinematic shivers

For the video artwork ‘Floating shapes’ I put together minimalistic video fragments to create the visual experience of a constant flow. Working with low key recordings, the focus is laid on the structure of different materials and surfaces in a poetic way. Starting point for this piece was the fascination for light effects that can be seen in nature, for instance when sunbeams fall on a wall or are reflected on the surface of water. These ‘found animations’ were combined with staged scenes in which one can recognize the silhouettes of persons.  imagery in this work could be perceived short film scenes or fractions of our memory, inviting the viewer to make up his own story.



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Sarah Janssen