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Clip from Salammbo 1959 film loop

2008

DV capture from animation on 16mm film

 

Salammbo 1959 is a sculpture and film piece, in which a 15 second 16mm film loop is run through a large sculpture of a lion. The film loop can be seen in motion through a gap running the length of the sculpture; the projected image falls on the opposite wall. The lion is derived from many public sculptures, particularly a pair in the British Museum, but also inspired by the film sets of DW Griffith's Intolerance. The film is a stop frame animation, imitating the style of Ray Harryhausen, famous Hollywood special effects man.

Salammbo is an exotic novel of 1862 by Gustave Flaubert, which has been adapted into many forms, but never a Hollywood epic. The year 1959 falls within a period that saw major ancient world epics such as Ben Hur.

See also Excessive Expenditure in Illusion City , an essay touching on some related subject matter.

Salammbo 1959 installation views, 2008

All material © Richard Whitby