The First Light Show

A small collection of red rocks from the beach cycle through the primary colours before ultimately losing both their colour and form, abstracted through digital degradation. An experimental short film exploring newfound issues in preservation in the digital age and how this ties to our own memory, fading as the years go by.

A debt-settlement meeting turns into a surreal nightmare of ego, sexism, and chaos.

Roaming through dark streets, Benjamín recognizes a house. After knocking on the door, an old friend opens, scared. It is as if he was waiting for him. Shortly after they exchange greetings, his friend tells him something isn't right: an intruder has gotten into the house.

For the multimedia exhibition Tangenten I (Tangents I), Dammbeck and co-organizer, sculptor and painter Frieder Heinze had planned to collaborate on a film that would combine non-camera animation with 35mm footage of a train ride between the two Dresden districts of Radebeul and Pieschen. When the exhibition was banned in 1978, Heinze turned to other projects, but Dammbeck continued working on the film by himself. Metamorphoses I—the first experimental film ever to be shown publicly in East Germany—marks the filmic beginning of Dammbeck’s long-term art project the Herakles-Konzept (Hercules Concept).

The film highlights the beauty of craft, whilst re-contextualising traditional folk narratives to show the strength and power of the often forgotten members of folk communities.

At the center are takes which do not change - a tree in a field in Vermont, U.S.A. Since the film was shot over a period of fifty days, the single frame shots create a storm of pictures.

The story takes place in the landscapes of La Spezia, where urban and rural environments intertwine. Water plays a primary role as a form, alongside the circle (e.g., bicycle wheels, pizzas, clocks…), which sets the rhythm of the character’s life, dynamically accelerating until it becomes very fast. The overlapping forms invite the viewer into the cyclical rhythm of the short film, moving from the spinning bicycle wheel to the washing machine drum in the character’s bathroom, from a freshly tossed pizza to the delivery mailbox, and finally to a dead-end wall. Savana is a race against oneself and against others; it’s a matter of decision and unpredictability — it’s black or white.

Guided by the recitation of a poem, the story of a couple transforms into an intimate ritual where desire, love, and cannibalism become intertwined.

Ocean was a girl and now just a paper head. Her brother reminisces the times they shared during their childhood, a sorry experience that birthed emotional scars.

Falso vacío

A boy with a broken heart is obsessed with a dreams, so he decides to embark on a journey that eventually reveals the meaning of life to him.

Energy cannot be created or destroyed. When we die, where does our energy go? Inspired by Vauhini Vara's essay "Ghosts", in which she prompted Al to help her write about her sister's passing, "GHOSTS" takes us on the emotional journey of grief. We see a ghost figure trying to get through to her sister, who is still alive, and let her know she's still around somehow. There are two poems in this piece, one is a poem written by GPT 3, and the next is the director's (Oriana Mejer) response to it. This film uses spoken word poetry, TouchDesigner motion graphics, and is originally scored by French musician Taime.

Through the opposition of two temporalities, Succession questions the parallel yet divergent evolution of humans and plants. The film explores the confrontation between two living beings, one gradually taking over the other.

Set over three generations and beginning with a sexually frustrated orderly during WWII who relieves his tensions in the most outlandish, gross ways. The result of his liaison is a glutton who grows up to be a champion speed eater. He produces a child who becomes obsessed with taxidermy.

An experimental avant-garde film where the character battles with herself, struggling to understand and embrace her true identity. Blending dream-like and reality sequences together, the film connotes inside the character’s mind. Escaping to different parts of her subconscious, she is met with confrontation, fear & desire. This piece of work highlights themes of identity, surrealism & subjectivity, where the instability of the self is at the forefront of the film. The film uses elements of mixed media montage to portray the character’s inner thoughts.

Vintage pornography reels from the archives of Italy’s National Film Museum display over an AI recitation of Dante's The Divine Comedy.

What remains for me is to promote my own ruin. Aware of inevitable loneliness, the incarnation of cruelty.

Super 8mm / color / sound

Seeing himself as a form unable to experience intimacy, he is given the chance when brought to the household of twin sisters.

HU