James Richards

Uncontrollable Universe

James Richards

In Uncontrollable Universe, James Richards experiments with bringing still images to life via both digital animation and the classic documentary trope of the Ken Burns effect, which tracks across and zooms into archive images. Scans of medical equipment, X-rays and scraps of found material emerge in counterpoint with a fragmentary, manipulated soundtrack, led by the human voice, which ruminates on the relationship between the body and technology. Continuing Richards’ investigation into the formal possibilities of both collage and an embodied, affective moving image, this new work centres on the immersive potential of the cinema auditorium and the position of the viewer within it.