about
Clémentine Chapron
Vienna, August 2021, during the shooting of Wail's video for Aux Portes
I started making experimental films in Super 8 during my Master's degree "Creation and filmmaking" at Paris 8 University in 2018. My artistic research was born of this desire to approach the visual arts through the medium of film.
Since 2020, I've been perfecting my Super 8 technique, particularly during a three-month stay in Prague, where I made an experimental documentary about the RockOpera Praha theatre. I then directed several music videos in France and Austria, and worked with the dancer Camille Guibert on a contemporary trance performance project. I am currently developing an essay-documentary project, A propos de mon père, which has been shortlisted for a post-production grant in 2023, the GREC Rush. As part of this project, and to continue my plastic research, I set up a film laboratory at Le Bloc, an exhibition and experimental space in Poitiers, in August 2022. I experimented with film and developed my out-of-date films with Caffenol. I also developed my practice of creating phytograms on photo paper and tested this technique on super 8 film.
Nowadays, I often work directly on film, painting and collaging on Super 8, looking for harmony with nature. Above and beyond the visual aspect of my work, I'm particularly sensitive to the economy required to work with these materials. Working in Super 8 requires a different approach to digital, and that's one of the reasons why I use this medium. I like working like a craftsman. I like this economy of means due to the preciousness of time on film, taking the time to make a film and not overproducing images - which is why I sometimes collect film that has already been printed, in order to work with what already exists, or recycle Kodachrome 40 films. I've also been making handcut collages for the last ten years or so, to give free rein to my imagination and create other realities, dreamlike, psychedelic worlds, a bit of magic.
Since 2020, I've been perfecting my Super 8 technique, particularly during a three-month stay in Prague, where I made an experimental documentary about the RockOpera Praha theatre. I then directed several music videos in France and Austria, and worked with the dancer Camille Guibert on a contemporary trance performance project. I am currently developing an essay-documentary project, A propos de mon père, which has been shortlisted for a post-production grant in 2023, the GREC Rush. As part of this project, and to continue my plastic research, I set up a film laboratory at Le Bloc, an exhibition and experimental space in Poitiers, in August 2022. I experimented with film and developed my out-of-date films with Caffenol. I also developed my practice of creating phytograms on photo paper and tested this technique on super 8 film.
Nowadays, I often work directly on film, painting and collaging on Super 8, looking for harmony with nature. Above and beyond the visual aspect of my work, I'm particularly sensitive to the economy required to work with these materials. Working in Super 8 requires a different approach to digital, and that's one of the reasons why I use this medium. I like working like a craftsman. I like this economy of means due to the preciousness of time on film, taking the time to make a film and not overproducing images - which is why I sometimes collect film that has already been printed, in order to work with what already exists, or recycle Kodachrome 40 films. I've also been making handcut collages for the last ten years or so, to give free rein to my imagination and create other realities, dreamlike, psychedelic worlds, a bit of magic.