Film No. 17
Jumping Video | 3' 27'' | 2018
Two people carry out some important work. They stand opposite each other, each holding a camera. The rules are simple: one person jumps in the air and when their feet touch the ground the person standing opposite jumps in the air. When that person’s feet touch the ground the first person jumps up again, etc. The film cuts between each camera as the person opposite is jumping.
In theory the viewer is never in the air but always looking at someone jumping in the air. I had imagined that this experiment would yield a video with a rhythmic, see-sawing bounce. But of course it is jerky and unstable, and as I worked on the edit the detail and texture of me and Andy rather ludicrously carrying out this experiment in Hackney Wick became an integral part of the video’s tone, leading to a ‘making-of’ documentary element. Additionally the video uses freeze-frames to pause the chaotic visuals and introduce a stunted push and pull between motion and stasis. As a viewer you are pulled from inside the edit, to outside of the edit. In out, in out, that's what it's all about. Huge thanks to Andy.
My friends Camilla and Ben decided to make an homage to Jumping Video while on a trip to Stockholm, on the narrowest street in Sweden! It can be watched here.
Screenings
2019 Exploding Cinema, London
2018 Transient Visions, Johnson City, NY
2018 Horn Festival, Jerusalem
![]()
Jumping Video | 3' 27'' | 2018
digital video, stereo, colour
Two people carry out some important work. They stand opposite each other, each holding a camera. The rules are simple: one person jumps in the air and when their feet touch the ground the person standing opposite jumps in the air. When that person’s feet touch the ground the first person jumps up again, etc. The film cuts between each camera as the person opposite is jumping.
In theory the viewer is never in the air but always looking at someone jumping in the air. I had imagined that this experiment would yield a video with a rhythmic, see-sawing bounce. But of course it is jerky and unstable, and as I worked on the edit the detail and texture of me and Andy rather ludicrously carrying out this experiment in Hackney Wick became an integral part of the video’s tone, leading to a ‘making-of’ documentary element. Additionally the video uses freeze-frames to pause the chaotic visuals and introduce a stunted push and pull between motion and stasis. As a viewer you are pulled from inside the edit, to outside of the edit. In out, in out, that's what it's all about. Huge thanks to Andy.
My friends Camilla and Ben decided to make an homage to Jumping Video while on a trip to Stockholm, on the narrowest street in Sweden! It can be watched here.
Screenings
2019 Exploding Cinema, London
2018 Transient Visions, Johnson City, NY
2018 Horn Festival, Jerusalem
