Written in the sand
Write, read, speak... but what ? And in what language ? I dont know... I listen without trying to understand.
Writing
What is writing ? Tracing symbols that refer to a language, with its two faces, the signifier (form) and the signified (the meaning). This is the intellectual vision of writing.
But if we begin to dream, to contemplate the world, then maybe there are writings in nature, perhaps the signs traced by human complement with his footprints, with traces of the wind and of the elements or animals in the area. Maybe everything is writing. But then writing what language ? On a universal sensitive language, perhaps, that will be heard differently by every being, human or not.
What hears a cat in front these letters written by man ? And what hears a man in front of the letters traced by the footprints of a cat in the sand ?
Speech
How do these scriptures, seen and experienced otherwise at a purely sensible level, can be spoken ? What words, other than inside, may emanate from these strange writings ? It is an exploration that is offered in this film.
Fathers
While some references can feed the visit of this film, they are probing the side of sound poetry, including Bernard Heidsieck, Isidore Isou, François Dufrene, Brion Gysin.
Diffusion
- 2017 : Saint-Lô’s Library
- 2015 : Café/Ciné # 10 (Les Sables d’Olonne - France).
- Wrote in sand (MPEG4)
The kaleidoscope, a figure made up of mirrored replications of the same image, offers a very “organic” vision of things. Like a visual metaphor for cell division, it opens up a realm of perceptions and emotions far beyond the mere decoration it might at first appear to embody. This figure, very rare in films, has always questioned me, which is why I’ve been exploring it in film for a long time.
It’s been a nice surprise to see animated kaleidoscopes flourishing on screens over the last four or five years, in film and series credits in particular. I invite you to read the manifesto text on the practice of animated kaleidoscopes, which I wrote ten years ago, in 2014: « Thinking about moving kaleidoscope image ».
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Poetry A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’56s, 2017).
When the intimate poetry becomes public. -
Choice of words Collective film (7’22s, 2017).
Words dance to make racism and discrimination vanish. -
The book’s title A film by Benoît Labourdette (6’41s, 2021).
On the difficulty of writing, of forming a sensitive and true trace of the most intimate and precious things. Immersion in the head of an author (…) -
Calligrams #01 A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’23s, 2021).
Sixty poems on the principle of words forming a pattern, popularized by Guillaume Apollinaire.Link to original poems. -
Calligram workshops for children As part of the poetry biennial “Les ailleurs” in Charleville-Mézières.
Creative calligraphy workshops, using graphics, movement, writing, music and digital technology, for two elementary school classes in (…)