Where am I when I'm watching?

Seeing films is not only a visual but a physical experience, bringing into play the body in new and disturbing ways. We need to be physically separated from a film in order to watch it: even the first row in a cinema must retain a minimal distance from the screen, in order to allow the film to be seen. But with today’s mobile devices not only are the films changing place but also our place before them, resulting in new things to be seen and others suddenly disappearing. This video essay is an experiment with, and meditation on, these shifting distances, how they implicate us and our bodies, and how they allow for new critical distances and analytical immersions.

Directing, editing, and sound design by Johannes Binotto (December 2022 and May 2023) with sound design support by Cormac Donnelly

Made as part of the video essay series PRACTICES OF VIEWING (2021-2023).

Inspired among other things by sitting too close to the computer screen, by François Jullien’s philosophy of the in-between, and the work of Alice Lenay , and with many thanks to all the participants of the conference Video Essay. Techniques and Methods Paxmontana Dec. 2022