Ben Wilson, Chewing Gum Man – Hidden Worlds Beneath Your Feet

You see dirty, discarded, flattened blobs of gum – Ben sees a canvas!


Ben Wilson, Chewing Gum Man – Hidden Worlds Beneath Your Feet
 
I met Ben Wilson (aka, Chewing Gum Man) in October 2023, just a week away from over 600 of his tiny paintings (on London's Millennium Bridge) being destroyed forever!
 
I spoke to Ben and a few of the hundreds of passers by who stop, watch, chat and shake his hand – I asked them about the work and why it was so important to them, to London and people across the world…
 
Welcome to Ben's world and work.&nbsp;
Next time you're in London I guarantee you'll visit Millennium Bridge and you'll never be the same as a result...

Ben Wilson, Chewing Gum Man: Hidden Worlds Beneath Your Feet

A man's obsession with a stranger leads him through the underworld of Paris to an uncanny revelation. Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's "The Man of the Crowd."

REFLECTION OF A DEADMAN

In a near future, Adam's life unravels as eerie visions of his sister Claudia, drenched in seawater and shadows, haunt him. Society teeters on collapse, with chips governing minds and drones enforcing laws. Struggling to grasp reality, Adam confronts dark truths of his past as Claudia nears a dangerous, irreversible cliff edge. Based on the first chapter of my feature"After Adam," this short is a visually stunning, mind-bending exploration of control, sacrifice, and the cost of life.

In a not-so-distant future, Adam lives in a world where technology dictates emotion, thought, and reality itself. Society teeters on the edge of collapse, Adam's life begins to unravel when eerie visions of his sister Claudia, drenched in seawater and shadows, haunt his every step. In a world where chips govern minds and drones enforce laws, Adam grapples with forces far beyond his control. As his grip on reality slips, he must confront the dark truths of his past and the growing storm within, all while Claudia inches closer to a dangerous, irreversible choice. 
This short is based off the first chapter of my script "After Adam" which is a visually stunning, mind-bending journey that explores control, sacrifice, and the terrifying cost of survival in a world on fire.

After Adam

In 2017 Edinburgh artist Andrew Crummy was diagnosed with throat cancer. He vowed, if he survived, to tell the story of cancer by bringing people together to create something bigger and more globally significant than his other great work, The Great Tapestry of Scotland.

In 2017 Edinburgh artist Andrew Crummy was diagnosed with throat cancer. He vowed, if he survived, to tell the story of cancer by bringing people together to create something bigger and more globally significant than his other great work, The Great Tapestry of Scotland.

Supported by Macmillan Cancer Support, this film chronicles the inception of the idea and what it means to those who have taken part so far... most of whom live with cancer or have someone very close to them who has.

A Good Thing To Do: Andrew Crummy's Cancer Tapestry

A Chilean man on walkabout in the Canadian wilderness has his principles put to the test after he punctures the fabric of reality.

Bullseye Butterfly

In NYC, five strangers' lives intersect in unexpected ways, revealing the subtle interconnectedness between them as they navigate personal struggles. 

One day in NYC the lives of five people cross paths with each other in unexpected ways, revealing the subtle yet important interconnectedness of their lives as they grapple with their own issues and try to make sense of the chaos that surrounds them. Love is a complicated and messy thing, and sometimes it takes being broken to find the pieces that fit.&nbsp;

Broken Pieces

‘DURANGEN’ means ‘grow’ or ‘growing’ in a number of dialects of the traditional Bundjalung language, and this documentary features six matriarchs speaking about their insider perspectives on plant art.

‘DURANGEN’ means ‘grow’ or ‘growing’ in a number of dialects of the traditional Bundjalung language, and this documentary features six matriarchs speaking about their insider perspectives on plant art.
Discussing our artworks in the film highlights the contribution of women’s work in growing culture, alongside some of the many native plant companions revered in daily living for us as Aboriginal people since time immemorial, but are now under threat from recent floods, fires, drought and pests. It is essential for us to have an archival record and be able to reshare this, especially as it involves the irreplaceable biological heritage of the plant queendom.
As senior artists and cultural practitioners of the matriarchy, we each represent different clan groups that make up some of the Bundjalung Nation and are featured in collaboration with cyberTribe: Euphemia Bostock (Munanjali), Faith Baisden (Kombumerri), Tania Marlowe (Nyanbul), Deidre Currie (Minjungbal), Jasmin Stanford (Githabul), and myself as Artist Curator Filmmaker, Jenny Fraser (Migunburri).
The artists interviewed for the DURANGEN documentary were also part of a world first Bundjalung plant art showcase in Japan, representing Australia at the 2023 JAALA Biennial held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. The self-funded group collection featured a range of weaving, textiles, ceramics, photography, film and text, all with a focus on a bio-regional approach to native plant uses.&nbsp;

DURANGEN

On a frozen tundra, a coat gives more than heat to a grief stricken girl.

The Coat

Who is “She?” Perhaps a goddess? and a “Planetary Sister” my most recent series. Using self portrait and word prompts, describing my aspirational and earthbound self, I expand my nine year project “Portrait of a Woman.” With my face as primary art tool, I transform my likeness into celestial creatures. The sisters occupy a cosmic realm, melding my aging human face and the female entities born with AI. Each sister transforms my human essence into a cosmic personae.

Who is “She?” Perhaps a goddess? Watching the compelling visual story move on the screen, these might be viewer questions. We are captivated seeing a colorful, changing, melded flow of images with AI blended figures and cosmic atmosphere scenes accompanied by expansive audio.
Susan Detroy created an ethereal film with a composited AI personae. “She” is born from a sister family of transformed figures blending human and celestial. “She” occupies the film as main character, overseeing a flowing world mixed with a fanciful, airy cosmos. “She” is celestial guardian floating in glowing stars, planets and butterflies.&nbsp;
“She” is one of the “Planetary Sisters” films, Ms.Detroy’s most recent video series. With these sisters, Susan expands her nine year “Portrait of a Woman” project. Since 2015 Ms. Detroy has been using her own face as a primary art tool. Now Susan expanded into AI, transforming her own likeness into blended celestial creatures, occupying a heavenly realm. “She” is one of several sisters residing in a non-earthly, fluid space. The sisters are melded figures using Susan’s aging human face and the AI prompted female entities. Ms. Detroy gathers and blends, enlisting her long-time generated self portrait images and word prompts. The prompts describe desired traits, aspirational ideas, plant life forms and planetary fantasies. The promoted creatures are mixtures of heavenly and fantastical selves. Each sister is a cosmic personae who is a combination of human/Susan and AI characteristics. “She” is one of the sisters who live in our film universe.&nbsp;

She 

The film is part of the Independent Category of the Community Digital Story Festival.

The Pen

Eco curse

"Ruta o Rumbo. Un viaje mental"  / "Route or Course. A Mindtrip"
The road in front of me... Is it a route or course that I follow?

 A Mindtrip

"El Mundo se Camina" - "Have to Walks The World"
An invitation to walk the world. To walk through it, to enjoy its smells, colors, and sounds.

El Mundo Se Camina

Chile woke up on October 18th, 2019. The streets were flooded with people claiming "Until 
dignity becomes a habit". "The right of delirium" by Eduardo Galeano transports us through 
the atmosphere of the struggle for what we would call an Utopia.

Award-wining film by Marcelo Lagreze

Chile woke up on October 18th, 2019.
The streets are flooded with people demanding to be heard, united by the slogan "until dignity becomes customary.” While some people peacefully demonstrate, others, known as the "front line", confront the police to ensure the safety of the demonstrators. This entire situation is metaphorically and poetically depicted through the voice of Eduardo Galeano as he reads his poem "El derecho al delirio" (The Right to Delirium).

<h2>Credits:</h2>
Direction - Camera - Editing
<ul>
<li>Marcelo Lagreze</li>
</ul>
Text and Voice
<ul>
<li>Eduardo Galeano</li>
</ul>
Free Adaptation
<ul>
<li>Poetry excerpt "EL DER DERIRIO AL DERIRIO" by Eduardo Galeano</li>
</ul>
Sound Postproduction
<ul>
<li>Alejandra Oyarce</li>
</ul>
Music / Voiceover
<ul>
<li>Interview with Eduardo Galeano</li>
<li>Program: "SINGULARS" - TV3 - CCMA</li>
</ul>
Subtitles
<ul>
<li>Leticia Esparza</li>
</ul>
Technical support
<ul>
<li>Jorge Diaz / Solucionesmac</li>
</ul>
Images recorded during the social outburst
Recorded with iPhone 7
Santiago de Chile, July 2020

Utopia of the outraged

The city was quiet and hauntingly beautiful. Peace flooded the places that, before, had 
noisy crowds. We were experiencing the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the 
environment on the subway was not different. A place that used to be flooded with 
people became an empty place that invited us to a parenthesis, a PAUSE to think and 
reflect...

<h3>Director's Statement:</h3>
It was a special moment for all. Almost without realizing it, our life changed. “A new way of living,” they said. Forced to leave confinement to receive medical treatment due to an accident. I traveled by subway to different stations in the city. Being there, I couldn't help the strange feeling of being almost by myself in a place that used to be synonymous with crowding.
At that moment, I decided to capture images of the lonely people in the subway. These images and the voices in the film invite us to rethink and reflect on important aspects of living. Which, unfortunately, under normal circumstances, we forget or overlook.
<h3>Credits:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Direction: Marcelo Ignacio Lagreze</li>
<li>Producer: Marcelo Ignacio Lagreze</li>
<li>Camera: Marcelo Ignacio Lagreze</li>
<li>Editing: Marcelo Ignacio Lagreze</li>
<li>Sound Postproduction: Alejandra Oyarce</li>
<li>Music: Maxence Cyrin - Where is My Mind - The Pixies Piano cover</li>
<li>Voices: Alejandra Oyarce, Marcelo Lagrez</li>
<li>Writer: Marcelo Lagreze</li>
<li>Graphic Design: Oannes Federico Lagreze</li>
<li>Technical Support Jorge Diaz</li>
</ul>
Shot with iPhone Xr
Santiago de Chile, July 2021

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