Film & Moving Image Residencies 2017: Sebastian Cordes

Sebastian:

Sebastian’s Work:

About Sebastian’s practice:

My work focuses on a contemplative approach to the traditional documentary. Even though film is my primary medium, I come from a background in philosophy. Areas such as boredom, slowness, and art/experience as knowledge are what I love to examine.
In this sense my films tend to be highly conceptualized, although not just from the head, but also from the soil of the places I visit. To examine the temporality of a place, mainly through moving images, is what really interests me.
But given my interest in the theoretical and side of arts, I am also exploring this in writing, poetry and lectures as well. Lately I have turned to positive aspects of boredom, of dwelling. Most of all, I use the camera as a means to explore worlds beyond my own, be it an airport in Bolivia where people turn up everyday even though they went bankrupt years ago, or the touristy landscapes of Faroe Islands, and now finishing a poetic and personal feature-length film essay on the traces of the refugee crisis in Greece.

Sebastian’s thoughts before the residency:

I often work in tableaus, with very little editing, long takes, and on a tripod – inspired by painters and still photographers. Minimalism is a key word. Will it change at Café Tissardmine? I hope so. The tranquility invokes something in me already. What does the sand have to offer? Or better, in what way will my eyes change with meeting the desert? In this way I want to be naive and open to experiments. Working in greece last year I had done a massive amount of research beforehand, but travelling to Bolivia the year before that I insisted we do no homework, no research and meet the world with fresh eyes. The same with Faroe Islands, where I was on an artist residence. The coincidality of a specific community around this residence is thrilling and puts the art in a risky place. As it should be.