Beatrice Gibson | Crippled Symmetries

Based on William Gaddis’ novel JR, Beatrice Gibson has developed a trilogy of films centred on the complex themes of capitalism, the educational bond, John Cage and the Fluxus’ legacy, the special relationship between money and music. Focusing on these themes, Crippled Symmetries presents an original approach to the broader question of abstraction, in values, music, economy, and games. Beatrice Gibson deals with this complex matter proposing a stimulating interplay of images and sounds, where the narrative of the voices constitutes a firm layer that is in a dialectical tension with the soundtrack, and where the concrete presence of faces fills the void of the ephemeral locations she chose. The New York Exchange Data Center in Essex, an amusement park, and an anonymous alleyway in the city are materializations of the abstract, whereas the voices, faces and music add a human counterpart to the abstract aspects of music and money.

Filmexplorer had the opportunity to meet Beatrice Gibson at Art Basel, and discuss with her about these subjects, her trilogy, her way of working between the aleatoric and the controlled, the important influence of experimental music on her films, the ideal situation for screening her works, and more.