Ecology of the Body

Madelon Hooykaas / Netherlands, France, Italy / 2025 / International Premiere / 4 min.

synopsis

In extreme close-up, the human skin unfolds into mountain ridges, valleys and dry riverbeds. Rhythmic forms merge with inner and outer landscapes, suffused with sound compositions by Delia Derbyshire, originally written for the video art of the duo Hooykaas/Stansfield, and sounds of nature from the duo’s archive.

“Our bodies are the earth. The earth is our body. In my practice of walking, looking, filming and writing in connection to the landscape and seascape I keep living these words.”

biography

Madelon Hooykaas (1942) is a Dutch filmmaker, visual artist and pioneer of European video art. She studied photography privately and graduated from the Ealing School of Art and Design in London. Working in a creative partnership with Elsa Stansfield (1945–2004) from 1972 onwards, she has created over one hundred and fifty films and video installations. Her works are exhibited at Tate Modern and MoMA, including Generations (1977) and The Force Behind Its Movement (1984).