Skip to content

Animal Cinema

ENG-ITA


Animal Cinema, 2017. Video in HD, 00:12:12, formato 16:9, colori, suono.

Animal Cinema è composto unicamente da frammenti di video postati su YouTube che ho collezionato a partire dal 2012. Tutti i video sono accomunati da una comune caratteristica: sono stati girati da animali che si sono trovati faccia a faccia con una videocamera e se ne sono impossessati. Movimenti di corpi, chele, tentacoli, zanne, artigli e zampe si sostituiscono a qualsiasi premeditazione registica. Il risultato è un vortice di forme di consapevolezza e modi di essere in continuo dispiegarsi: una concatenazione di azioni e passioni che apre un inedito spiraglio sul complicato assemblaggio di uomini, animali e tecnologie di cui noi tutti siamo parte. Animal​ Cinema​ continua la mia ricerca su forme di creatività non antropocentriche e sul rapporto sensoriale, viscerale, intellettivo ed emotivo, che tali forme evocano.


RECENSIONI:

  “Un’opera visiva e sonora dalla rara efficacia.” – Simone Arcagni, Il Sole 24 Ore

“Radicale e affascinante spaesamento percettivo che ribalta e rivoluziona ogni certezza narrativa, epistemologica e simbolica del cinema.” – Davide Turrini, Il Fatto Quotidiano

“Film inafferrabile sull’inafferrabile, un film istintivo sull’istinto, un film extra-uomo sull’umano.” – Marco Romagna, Cinelapsus

“Il mondo come lo vede il mondo.” – Felice Cimatti

“Un’esperienza del sublime in cui il soggetto è trascinato fuori di sé e si avvicina a un confine che lo acceca e ammutolisce.” – Federica Timeto, Studi Culturali

“Estremamente affascinante. Autentico viaggio nelle viscere della conoscenza esplorativa della vita.” – Federica Fiumelli, Wall Street International Magazine

 “Riportando l’animalità alla sua essenza.” – Clara Caroli, LaRepubblica

“Stupefacente.” – Nicolò Vigna, Lo Specchio Scuro

“Metamorfosi mediatica.” – Valerio Veneruso, Artribune

 “Inquadrature intime al limite del voyeurismo.” – Emanuela Zanon, Juliet

“Un nuovo cinema in cui l’uomo fornisce solo il mezzo.” – Andrea Tinterri, La Foresta. Itinerari nell’arte contemporanea


| 00:00:00:00 – 00:01:47:03 |

Filmed by Cardisoma guanhumi (land crab) in Little Cayman (Cayman Islands)

Uploaded to YouTube by AJsoCAl on June 07, 2012

| 00:01:47:03 – 00:02:20:15 |

Filmed by Octopus vulgaris (common octopus) in Abu Dabab (Egypt)

Uploaded to YouTube by Roel Lauwers on December 08, 2012

| 00:02:20:15 – 00:03:30:21 |

Filmed by Amphioctopus marginatus (veined octopus) somewhere in Honduras

Uploaded to YouTube by Chris Cole on January 17, 2015

| 00:03:30:21 – 00:03:55:10 |

Filmed by Canis lupus familiaris (German shorthaired pointer) somewhere in Germany

Uploaded to YouTube by Ben Nestor on December 09, 2015

| 00:03:55:10 – 00:04:58:08 |

Filmed by Ursus arctos ssp. (grizzly bear) in Alaska (US)

Uploaded to YouTube by Brad Josephs on May 17, 2013

| 00:04:58:08 – 00:05:29:09 |

Filmed by Panthera leo senegalensis (West African lion) somewhere in Africa

Uploaded to YouTube by Earth Touch on November 26, 2014

| 00:05:29:09 – 00:07:05:23 |

Filmed by Panthera leo (African lion) in the Okavango Delta (Botswana)

Uploaded to YouTube by Karen Moran on August 28, 2014

| 00:07:05:23 – 00:08:15:10 |

Filmed by Sciurus carolinensis (eastern gray squirrel) in Westmount Park, Montreal (Canada)

Uploaded to YouTube by Viva Frei on August 07, 2016

| 00:08:15:10 – 00:09:01:11 |

Filmed by Cebus capucinus (white-headed capuchin monkey) in Manuel Antonio National Park (Costa Rica)

Uploaded to YouTube by Cole Weber on April 11, 2016

| 00:09:01:11 – 00:10:27:18 |

Filmed by Simia inuus (macaque) in Pulau Tiga, Sabah (Malaysia)

Uploaded to YouTube by Michal Kankowski on May 16, 2015

| 00:10:27:18 – 00:11:45:13 |

Filmed by Haliastur sphenurus (whistling kite) in Kimberly (Australia)

Uploaded to YouTube by ABC News (Australia) on December 01, 2013

With:

| GoPro HERO2 | GoPro HERO3 | GoPro HERO3+ Black Edition | GoPro HERO4 | Motion Sensor Camera |


SCREENSHOTS:


TRAILER:


SCREENINGS AND SELECTIONS:

  • (2024) Arsenal – Institut für film und videokunst. Animal, Mineral, Vegetable – Nature and the Non-Human in Film, curated by James Lattimer, Berlin, Germany
  • (2023) Museo Reina Sofia. The Camera of Nature: The Non-Human in Cinema, curated by James Lattimer, Madrid, Spain
  • (2022) Jeu de Paume – PALM. Nouvelle Visions du Vivant: Animal Cinema, Paris, France (online)
  • (2021) Spazi Fest, Spazi Fotografici | Centro di fotografia e arti visive, Sarzana, Italy
  • (2020) Festival Passage, Histoires animales, Côte de Nacre, France
  • (2020) (Online Film ScreeningGamma Festival – Gamma_ONSCREENRetrospective. Animal Cinema, curated by Natalia Fuchs, Saint Petersburg, Russia
  • (2019) 29th Message to Man – IFF. The Screen Touches Back, curated by Alena Koroleva, Saint Petersburg, Russia
  • (2019) (Finalist) Oaxaca Filmfest, Oaxaca, Mexico
  • (2019) IV Festival Cine Animal, Bogotà, Colombia
  • (2019) (Honorary Mention for Experimental Cinema) Il Varco – III Festival Internazionale del Cortometraggio, Pescara, Italy
  • (2019) Richmond International Film and Music Festival, Richmond, Virginia, US
  • (2019) (Winner Best Experimental Short) 3rd San Antonio Independent Film Festival, Ecuador
  • (2019) 5th International Motion Festival, Nicosia, Cyprus
  • (2018) Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York Theatre Royal, York, UK
  • (2018) 16th London Short Film Festival, London, UK
  • (2018) Frontdoc – International Documentary Film Festival, Aosta, Italy
  • (2018) 12th Sydney Underground Film Festival, Factory Theatre, Sydney, Australia
  • (2018) South Film and Arts Academy Festival, Rancagua, Chile
  • (2018) 21st Antimatter [Media Art], Victoria, BC, Canada
  • (2018) 33rd Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, Cinema Paradiso, Florida, US
  • (2018) 31st Images Festival, Toronto, Canada
  • (2018) 21st Revelation – Perth International Film Festival, Perth, Australia
  • (2018) 19th Lucania Film Festival, Matera, Italy
  • (2018) MOSS INDEX 1, Artists’ Television Access, San Francisco, US
  • (2018) (Honorary Mention Award) Experimental Forum Film Festival, Los Angeles, US
  • (2018) (Winner of Third Prize17th International Kansk Video Festival, Kansk, Russia
  • (2018) 27th Florida Film Festival, Maitland, US
  • (2018) 48th USA Film Festival, Dallas TX, US
  • (2018) 45th Athens International Film and Video Festival, Athens OH, US
  • (2018) Cinema Perpetuum Mobile – International Short Film Festival, Post-Documentary Section, (multiple venues/screenings), Belarus
  • (2018) 17th Festival Internacional de la Imagen, Manizales, Colombia
  • (2018) 15th Oxford Film Festival, Oxford MI, US
  • (2017) (European Premiere35° Torino Film Festival – TFFdoc, Cinema Massimo, Torino, Italy
  • (2017) (American Premiere) SLIFF – 26th St. Louis International Film Festival.ZACK – Kranzberger Art Foundation, St. Louis, MO, US
  • (2017) (Preview) Harvard Film Archive, VES (Visual and Environmental Studies) Screenings, Cambridge MA, US

EXHIBITIONS:

  • (2024) Festival del Paesaggio. L’animale che dunque sono. Curated by Arianna Rosica and Gianluca Riccio, Villa San Michele, Capri island, Italy.
  • (2023) MBAL – Musée des Beaux-Arts. Animal Instinct, curated by Federica Chiocchetti, Le Locle, Switzerland.
  • (2021) Convento di San Francesco. Il rituale del serpente: artisti, simboli e trasformazioni, curated by Viola Emaldi and Valentina Rossi, Bagnacavallo, Italy.
  • (2021) BACO. Image Stream, curated by Sara Benaglia and Mauro Zanco, Bergamo, Italy.
  • (2021) (Solo ExhibitionModern Art Base. rs548049170_1_69869_TT (The Other Shapes of Me): Errors, Limits and Malfunctions, curated by Ramdom and ArtHub Asia, Shanghai, China.
  • (2020) (Online ExhibitionMAXXI – Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo. Animal Cinema – XVI Giornata del Contemporaneo, Rome, Italy.
  • (2020) (Online Exhibition) Rokolectiv Festival, Probabilities Around the Centre, curated by Rokolectiv, Bucharest, Romania.
  • (2020) Domus Magna / Palazzo della Misericordia, (2020) Metafotografia, curated by Mario Zanchi and Sara Benaglia, Bergamo, Italy.
  • (2019) Kyiv Biennial 2019. The Black Cloud, curated by Visual Culture Research Center, Kyiv, Ukraine.
  • (2019) Khodynka Municipal GalleryAnimal Internet, curated by Sasha Burenkov, Moscow, Russia.
  • (2019) Museu de Ciències Naturals of Barcelona – Loop Festival 2019, Land(e)scape, curated by Aurélien Le Genissel, Barcelona, Spain.
  • (2018) Something Else, OFF Biennale Cairo, head curator Simon Njami, Section curated by Elena Giulia Abbiatici, Darb 1718 Contemporary Art Centre, Cairo, Egypt.
  • (2018) Artissima 2018, GALLLERIAPIÙ: New Entries Section, Turin, Italy.
  • (2018) Associazione Barriera + Treignac ProjectKaluchua, curated by Mattia Solari and Martina Sabbadini, Turin and Treignac, Italy and France.
  • (2018) Laznia Center for Contemporary ArtNo Middle, No End, curated by Federica Patti, Gdańsk, Poland.
  • (2017) (Solo ExhibitionGALLLERIAPIÙRE: CAPTURE: Room(s) for Imperfection, part of THE WRONG – New Digital Art Biennale, curated by Federica Patti, Bologna, Italy.

SCREENINGS AND SELECTIONS:

  • (2022) Jeu de Paume – PALM. Nouvelle Visions du Vivant: Animal Cinema, Paris, France (online)
  • (2021) Spazi Fest, Spazi Fotografici | Centro di fotografia e arti visive, Sarzana, Italy
  • (2020) Festival Passage, Histoires animales, Côte de Nacre, France
  • (2020) (Online Film ScreeningGamma Festival – Gamma_ONSCREENRetrospective. Animal Cinema, curated by Natalia Fuchs, Saint Petersburg, Russia
  • (2019) 29th Message to Man – IFF. The Screen Touches Back, curated by Alena Koroleva, Saint Petersburg, Russia
  • (2019) (Finalist) Oaxaca Filmfest, Oaxaca, Mexico
  • (2019) IV Festival Cine Animal, Bogotà, Colombia
  • (2019) (Honorary Mention for Experimental Cinema) Il Varco – III Festival Internazionale del Cortometraggio, Pescara, Italy
  • (2019) Richmond International Film and Music Festival, Richmond, Virginia, US
  • (2019) (Winner Best Experimental Short) 3rd San Antonio Independent Film Festival, Ecuador
  • (2019) 5th International Motion Festival, Nicosia, Cyprus
  • (2018) Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York Theatre Royal, York, UK
  • (2018) 16th London Short Film Festival, London, UK
  • (2018) Frontdoc – International Documentary Film Festival, Aosta, Italy
  • (2018) 12th Sydney Underground Film Festival, Factory Theatre, Sydney, Australia
  • (2018) South Film and Arts Academy Festival, Rancagua, Chile
  • (2018) 21st Antimatter [Media Art], Victoria, BC, Canada
  • (2018) 33rd Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, Cinema Paradiso, Florida, US
  • (2018) 31st Images Festival, Toronto, Canada
  • (2018) 21st Revelation – Perth International Film Festival, Perth, Australia
  • (2018) 19th Lucania Film Festival, Matera, Italy
  • (2018) MOSS INDEX 1, Artists’ Television Access, San Francisco, US
  • (2018) (Honorary Mention Award) Experimental Forum Film Festival, Los Angeles, US
  • (2018) (Winner of Third Prize17th International Kansk Video Festival, Kansk, Russia
  • (2018) 27th Florida Film Festival, Maitland, US
  • (2018) 48th USA Film Festival, Dallas TX, US
  • (2018) 45th Athens International Film and Video Festival, Athens OH, US
  • (2018) Cinema Perpetuum Mobile – International Short Film Festival, Post-Documentary Section, (multiple venues/screenings), Belarus
  • (2018) 17th Festival Internacional de la Imagen, Manizales, Colombia
  • (2018) 15th Oxford Film Festival, Oxford MI, US
  • (2017) (European Premiere35° Torino Film Festival – TFFdoc, Cinema Massimo, Torino, Italy
  • (2017) (American Premiere) SLIFF – 26th St. Louis International Film Festival.ZACK – Kranzberger Art Foundation, St. Louis, MO, US
  • (2017) (Preview) Harvard Film Archive, VES (Visual and Environmental Studies) Screenings, Cambridge MA, US

EXHIBITIONS:

  • (2021) Convento di San Francesco. Il rituale del serpente: artisti, simboli e trasformazioni, curated by Viola Emaldi and Valentina Rossi, Bagnacavallo, Italy
  • (2021) BACO. Image Stream, curated by Sara Benaglia and Mauro Zanco, Bergamo, Italy
  • (2021) (Solo ExhibitionModern Art Base. rs548049170_1_69869_TT (The Other Shapes of Me): Errors, Limits and Malfunctions, curated by Ramdom and ArtHub Asia, Shanghai, China
  • (2020) (Online ExhibitionMAXXI – Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo. Animal Cinema – XVI Giornata del Contemporaneo, Rome, Italy
  • (2020) (Online Exhibition) Rokolectiv Festival, Probabilities Around the Centre, curated by Rokolectiv, Bucharest, Romania
  • (2020) Domus Magna / Palazzo della Misericordia, (2020) Metafotografia, curated by Mario Zanchi and Sara Benaglia, Bergamo, Italy
  • (2019) Kyiv Biennial 2019. The Black Cloud, curated by Visual Culture Research Center, Kyiv, Ukraine
  • (2019) Khodynka Municipal GalleryAnimal Internet, curated by Sasha Burenkov, Moscow, Russia.
  • (2019) Museu de Ciències Naturals of Barcelona – Loop Festival 2019, Land(e)scape, curated by Aurélien Le Genissel, Barcelona, Spain
  • (2018) Something Else, OFF Biennale Cairo, head curator Simon Njami, Section curated by Elena Giulia Abbiatici, Darb 1718 Contemporary Art Centre, Cairo, Egypt
  • (2018) Artissima 2018, GALLLERIAPIÙ: New Entries Section, Turin, Italy
  • (2018) Associazione Barriera + Treignac ProjectKaluchua, curated by Mattia Solari and Martina Sabbadini, Turin and Treignac, Italy and France
  • (2018) Laznia Center for Contemporary ArtNo Middle, No End, curated by Federica Patti, Gdańsk, Poland
  • (2017) (Solo ExhibitionGALLLERIAPIÙRE: CAPTURE: Room(s) for Imperfection, part of THE WRONG – New Digital Art Biennale, curated by Federica Patti, Bologna, Italy

(Selected) BIBLIOGRAPHY:

[ACADEMIC PAPER]

Filmische Moderne: 60 Fragmente
“What the Water Said, Nos. 1-3 (1998)” by Laura Frahm (Edited by Olivier Frahle et al.)
transcript, Bielefeg (Germany), 2019, pp. 315-322. (ger)

[BOOK | PROJECT]

[ESSAY]

PALM / Jeu de Paume
Nouvelle Visions du Vivant: Animal Cinema
by Emilio Vavarella, June 2022 (fra-eng)

[SOURCE (fra) | SOURCE (eng) | ARCHIVED (fra) | ARCHIVED (eng)]

[INTERVIEW]

Doppiozero
“Glitch: la verità nell’errore. Conversazione con Emilio Vavarella”
Interview by Mauro Zanchi and Sara Benaglia, 5 July 2020. (ita)

[SOURCE | ARCHIVED | PDF]

[CRITICAL TEXT]

Artslife – Fotoromanzo
“Emilio Vavarella: arte, errori e tecnologia. Una costante messa in discussione”
by Andrea Tinterri, May 2020 (ita)

[SOURCE | ARCHIVED | PDF]

[INTERVIEW]

Juliet
“Emilio Vavarella – Interdisciplinarità artistica”
Interview by Emanuela Zanon, Magazine n. 192, apr/mag 2019. (ita)

[PDF | SOURCE]

[EXHIBITION REVIEW]

Spectate
“Интернет животных. Спор вокруг (A conversation around Animal Internet)”
by Ivan Streltsov, November 2019. (rus)

[SOURCE]

[ARTIST BOOK]

“Animal Cinema: A World Remaking Cinema for Itself”
Published in collaboration with GALLLERIAPIÙ, Cambridge and Bologna
2017 (eng).

[PROJECT]

[CURATORIAL TEXT]

Curatorial text.
“RE-CAPTURE: Room(s) for Imperfection”
by Federica Patti, 2017 (ita-eng).

[PROJECT REVIEW]

Il Sole24Ore (Postcinema).
Animal Cinema
Review by Simone Arcagni, 2018 (ita).

[SOURCE | PROJECT]

[PROJECT REVIEW]

Il Fatto Quotidiano
“Animal Cinema, quando cani, polipi, scimmie e orsi diventano registi di un film”
Review by Davide Turrini, 2017 (ita)

[SOURCE | PROJECT]

[PROJECT REVIEW]

Artribune
“Animal Cinema: quando dietro la telecamera non c’è l’occhio umano”
Review by Valerio Veneruso, 2017 (ita).

[SOURCE | PROJECT]

[ACADEMIC PAPER]

Studi Culturali (Il Mulino)
“La specie è un ossimoro.”
by Federica Timeto, 2017 (ita).

[SOLO EXHIBITION REVIEW]

Artribune
“Errori e tecnologia: Emilio Vavarella a Bologna”
2017. (ita)

[SOURCE]

[SOLO EXHIBITION REVIEW]

Juliet Art Magazine
“Emilio Vavarella: RE-CAPTURE: Room(s) for Imperfection”
2017 (ita-eng).

[SOURCE (ITA) | SOURCE (ENG) | ARCHIVED]

[EXHIBITION REVIEW]

Wall Street International Magazine. 
“Re-Capture. Room (s) for Imperfection. Solo show di Emilio Vavarella”
2017 (ita).

[SOURCE | ARCHIVED]

[INTERVIEW]

ATP DIARY
“Intervista con Emilio Vavarella”
By Irene Angenica, 2017 (ita)

[SOURCE | ARCHIVED]

[PROJECT REVIEW]

La Foresta. Itinerari nell’arte contemporanea
“Un impero è caduto”
Review of “Animal Cinema” by Andrea Tinterri, La Foresta n.1, Nuova Editrice Berti, 2019. (ita)

[PDF | PROJECT]

[PROJECT REVIEW]

Cinelapsus
“Animal Cinema di Emilio Vavarella”
Review by Marco Romagna, 2017 (ita)

[SOURCE| ARCHIVED | PROJECT]

[SOLO EXHIBITION REVIEW]

Exibart
“Emilio Vavarella, Re-Capture- Room(s) For Imperfection”
2017 (ita).

[PDF]

[OFFICIAL CATALOGUE]

TFF – Official Catalogue
“Animal Cinema”
2017. (ita)

[PRESS COVERAGE]

Artribune
“L’Italia alla Off Biennale Cairo 2018”
2018 (ita)

[PRESS COVERAGE]

Exibart
“Diario di una Biennale al Cairo” (5 parts),
by Elena Giulia Abbiatici, 2018 (ita)

[PRESS COVERAGE]

La Stampa
“TFFDoc: una GoPro tra le zampe svela la filosofia animale”
2017. (ita)

[PRESS COVERAGE]

la Repubblica
“Torino Film Festival, sullo schermo arrivano gli animali”
2017. (ita)

[PRESS COVERAGE]

ABC
“Loop: cuando el vídeo «invade» Barcelona”
by Isabel Lázaro, 2019. (spa)

[INTERVIEW]

Digicult.
“Thought is my Main Medium. Interview with Emilio Vavarella | Il pensiero è il mio medium principale. Intervista con Emilio Vavarella”
by Giada Totaro, July 2020. (ita-eng)

[SOURCE (ita) | SOURCE (eng) | ARCHIVED]

[INTERVIEW]

Loosenart
“Glitch: The Truth in the Error. A Conversation with Emilio Vavarella”
by Sara Benaglia and Mauro Zanchi, August 2020. (eng)

[SOURCE (eng) | ARCHIVED]

[INTERVIEW / BOOK]

Metafotografia, Vol.2. Le mutazioni delle immagini
“Intervista 25: Emilio Vavarella”
Edited by Mauro Zanchi and Sara Benaglia (eds.) Skinnerbox, Jesi (Italy), 2020, pp. 112-117. (ita-eng).

[BOOK | PDF (ITA – no images) | ARCHIVED (ENG – no images)]

[EXHIBITION REVIEW]

ATP Diary
“L’arte come messaggera di possibilità. Emilio Vavarella in mostra ad Arthub, Shanghai”
Elena Bordignon talks with Davide Quadrio, 12 Jan 2021. (ita)

[SOURCE | ARCHIVED | PROJECT]

[BOOK CHAPTER]

Animals
“Does visual language limit our view of the natural world?”
Book by Henry Carroll. NYC: Abrams Books, 2021 (eng)

[PDF | PROJECT]

[ESSAY]

Sajetta
“Non-human visual perspectives / Prospettive visive non umane”
by Linda Carluccio, June 2021 (ita-eng)

[SOURCE | ARCHIVED | PROJECT]

[INTERVIEW]

ATP Diary
“Nuove ipotesi di realtà. Intervista con Emilio Vavarella (New hypotheses of reality: interview with Emilio Vavarella)”
Interview by Elena Bordignon, January 2020. (ita-eng)

[SOURCE | ARCHIVED | PDF]

[MA THESIS]

Lodz Film School
“Animal Cinema” in Zwierzęca perspektywa w dokumencie przyrodniczym (“Animal perspective in a document of nature”

by Karolina Kajetanowicz, Poland, 2021, pp.47-51 (pol)

[MA THESIS]

Università La Sapienza
Le altre animali nell’opera di Art Orienté Object (The Other (she)animals in the Art Orienté Object)

by Silvi, Martina, Department of History, Anthropology, Religion, Art, Spectacle. Lettere e Filosofia, Università La Sapienza, Roma, Italy, 2020-21. (ita)

[BOOK]

Videoarte in Italia. Il video rende felici
“Per un’arte in divenire. L’immaginario macchinico dell’audiovisivo italiano di inizio millennio” by Marco Mancuso, Treccani, 2022, P. 551. (ita)

[INTERVIEW]

The Parkview Museum

“Emilio Vavarella: Unpredictability of Technological Power”

in Bio Art (ed. by Camilla Latini, Maurice Xu and Xiadi Sun). Published by the Parkview Museum Beijing – Singapore, 2023. (chi-eng)

[INTERVIEW / EXHIBITION CATALOGUE]

Il rituale del serpente. Artisti, simboli, trasformazioni

by Emaldi, Viola and Valentina Rosssi (ed. by). “Emilio Vavarella” in Il rituale del serpente: artisti, simboli e trasformazioni, Ravenna: Danilo Montanari Editore, 2021, pp. 54-55. (ita)