Synopsis
Mimeisthai is an experimental screendance that responds to Walter Benjamin’s concept of the ‘mimetic faculty’, which is, the ability to perceive and/or reproduce similarity. This generic skill is possessed by all living things and finds expression on various levels, from the biological to the behavioral; such as in reproduction or camouflage, to the myriad ways that creatures communicate.
In Mimeisthai movements are shared, copied and repeated between performers both on and off-screen, and then amplified across multiple frames. Through duplication, repetition, and layering multiple exposures, this work explores the mimetic faculty of dance and digital video.
Mimeisthai is an experimental screendance that responds to Walter Benjamin’s concept of the ‘mimetic faculty’, which is, the ability to perceive and/or reproduce similarity. This generic skill is possessed by all living things and finds expression on various levels, from the biological to the behavioral; such as in reproduction or camouflage, to the myriad ways that creatures communicate.
In Mimeisthai movements are shared, copied and repeated between performers both on and off-screen, and then amplified across multiple frames. Through duplication, repetition, and layering multiple exposures, this work explores the mimetic faculty of dance and digital video.
Full credits
- Section
- Out of Competition
- Director
- Phoebe Robinson
- Choreographer
- Phoebe Robinson
- Production countries
- Australia
- Production year
- 2023
- Duration
- 16 minutes
- Producer
- Phoebe Robinson
You might also like:
Buoyant Competition Shorts and International Short Film Competition
Đoàn Thanh Toàn & Nguyễn Lê Hoàng Phúc, 2023, VN, 19 min
In this non-dialogue tale, set along the coast of Vietnam, a mermaid is rescued from the fish market by a fisherman. As the hero carries her back to the ocean they are joined by two seahorses. Upon her awakening on the beach the mermaid performs a sensual dance. But her joy is short-lived: the waves have other plans.
Through Magma Competition Shorts and International Short Film Competition
elisabeth raymond (elieli), 2023, SE, 9 min
Inspired by hydrofeminist theories and wearing a vessel suit, full of leaking water, artist Elisabeth Raymond tells an otherworldly story about sorrow, the plastic in our oceans and how our borders are fluid.
Gimp Gait Out of Competition
Pioneer Winter, Tabatha Mudra, 2016, US, 5 min
Gimp Gait is a solo for two – surrogates to one another. It includes an exploration of the subjects' private and public lives and how the perspective of the viewer may attempt to control or shape who they are. The title of the film discloses its origin: 'gimp', a slur meant to mark a weak or handicapped person and 'gait', the manner or style of a person's walk. Can you notice every part of their bodies – both the similarities and differences?