was an intense collaboration between Director of Photography, Kristina Schulte Eversum, and myself.

The core idea, a woman “walking” through four different themes: “Water, Fire, Earth, and Air.” We use symbolic language to imply the challenges of each element. For example, there are old women trying to leave a mark (representing depression) by dragging the protagonist into submission, and there is erotic temptation indicated by a fire dance with a men, as bodily compulsions in the element earth, and as the final chapter, power-hungry mental concepts in air.

For our age and audience at that time, this project was way beyond comprehension. No one was really able to discuss the accuracy of the symbolic language. It was labeled as “weird” and it elevated Kristina and myself into the “artsy hipster crowd”. For us, this was not so much an endeavor to shoot a coherent story, but more of an exercise in collaboration. We experimented with 35mm film, the bleach bypass development process, and pushed our limits with the logistics.

During editing, I would have preferred a more linear approach to imply a phase-to-phase journey through the elements, as outlined in various spiritual scriptures, most prominently in the Tarot. However, time restrictions and other projects demanded a simpler solution.

We licensed the music of one of my favorite artists from the late 90s, Console. His record “Rocket in the Pocket” was influential in the electronic music scene at that time. Björk even used one of his compositions as a foundation for “Heirloom”. We used the opener “My dog eats beats” as a guide throughout our “Werkbeispiel”.