At the end of last year, a short film was released by AM Art Films delving into the artistic universe of French artist, Charlotte Charbonnel. I’ve written previously on her work, notably an art story, Nebula I (2014, here). The film, Orka: force, énergie en Islandais (Orka: force, energy in Iceland) is an immersive and atmospheric journey documenting a trip in June 2024 made by Charbonnel and a film crew to Northern Iceland. The purpose was to explore the invisible and transforming elements such as minerals, water and sound waves that Charbonnel harnesses to create works of poetic resonance and sensory experiments.
In Iceland “orka” means strength, energy, and the film surveys the power of natural energies and the intersection of art and science. The film showcases many of Charbonnel’s artworks, such as Resonarium (2011), where iron shards form a slime that slowly animates, creating a hypnotic interaction of animal plant and mineral elements.
Throughout the film, Charbonnel’s voice whispers (no subtitles), weaving sound and words that evocatively relates to the artwork depicted, such as vapour, vibration, seismology, turbulence, smoke, magnetism, invisible forces, gravity, frequency, resonance, imagination, astral, texture, matter, impermanence, continuum, cosmology and magic.
Watch, listen, and absorb this brilliant artist’s work and fascination with the essence of creation itself.
