The End of the World (22 minutes) and The Birth of the World (25 minutes) are part of a two-part experimental dance film in collaboration with Gary James Joynes and Van Grimde Corps Secrets.
The End of the World is a journey from our current moment at the beginning of the visible effects of climate change—loss of biodiversity, extreme weather events, and loss on loss. It begins full of life and living, in a lush natural world as two humans express themselves at the end of the world.
The Birth of the World begins sometime in the future—time passes, and time passes again. We are sometime after the fall, the landscape is barren, harsh. We are witnessing the birth of a new world. Two survivors connect, try to heal each other as they are the sole witnesses to a brave new world.
Fieldnote that began this exploration:
Today I sit, cross my legs, and open to the world: sensing the ocean air sweeping through the coastal rainforest, cooling with the approaching winter, feeling the collecting power of the Juan de Fuca and Pacific tectonic plates waiting to release a tsunami of force, clearing the itch in my lungs from the forest fires in California, Oregon, and Washington. The soil is wet and soft, the bed of new life, hope—my kid's generation and their kid's—and I meditate on that giving essence and look across the Pacific for an origin: the birth of a new world. A future. The future Earth, the living planet, from the iron core churning and generating the magnetic field that shelters, to the air filled with breath and ancestors, to the Hemlock I am sitting under towering into the cosmos. I put my hand on the ground and flowers spring forth that bath the world in colour and die in last night's freeze. And so I sit and meditate on all of this and am creating this series of films in response to these arising sensations.
Film Festivals
2022 Radius Gallery. Santa Cruz, CA, USA
2022 San Francisco Indie Short Festival. San Francisco, CA, USA (Semi-finalist)
2022 Dallas Shorts. Dallas, TX, USA (Semi-finalist)
2021 Athens International Art Film Festival. Athens, Greece (Winner: Best Art Film)
2021 New Wave Short Film Festival. Munich, Germany (Finalist)
2021 Roma Short Film Festival. Rome, Italy (Finalist)
2021 Madrid Indie Film Festival. Madrid, Spain
2021 Long Story Shorts. Bucharest, Romania (Best Animation Nominee)
2021 Himachal Short Film Festival. Himachal Pradesh, India
2021 Paris International Film Awards. Paris, France. (Winner: Best SciFi film)
Exhibitions
2023 The Birth of the World. Harcourt House. Edmonton, AB
2021 Embodiment 2. Virtual Espace Corps Secrets. Montreal, QB
2020 What Makes Us Human? Art + Genomics. Mary Porter Sensnon Art Gallery. Santa Cruz, CA
Van Grimde Corps Secrets approaches the dancing body in a transdisciplinary manner. The company’s research and creative work is enriched by various disciplines, offering a pluralistic and resolutely contemporary vision of the body. Concepts from cutting-edge research in science and humanities are interwoven with ideas from literature, music, visual and media arts to create a dynamic dialogue through dance. This approach leads Isabelle Van Grimde to collaborate with artists and researchers from various disciplines incorporating digital technologies into the creation, production and presentation of her works, forming a wide array of artistic gestures aimed at rethinking and reconfiguring dance.
Stage productions, choreographic concerts, installations, exhibitions, publications and interactive web-based works are all part of Van Grimde Corps Secrets’s repertoire.
See more at: https://messis.vangrimdecorpssecrets.com/en/contents#eve-2050
Credits
Director: Brad Necyk
Visual design: Brad Necyk
Original Music Score, Sound Design and Mixing, Modular Synthesizer, Bass Guitar and Vocals: Gary James Joynes
Commissioned and co-produced by Van Grimde Corps Secrets
Comprised of unpublished rushes from Eve 2050: The Web Series and motion capture data from Eve 2050: The Virtual Reality Prototype
Additional artworks contributed by Aaron Munson, Marilene Oliver, Veronika McGinnis
CREDITS FOR EVE 2050: THE WEB SERIES
Artistic director and choreographer: Isabelle Van Grimde
Director: DAVAI
Assistant to the choreographer: Sophie Breton
Performers: Sophie Breton, Justin De Luna, Chi Long, Marine Rixhon, Gabrielle Roy, Emmanuelle Martin, Felix Cossette, Georges-Nicolas Tremblay, Brontë Poiré-Prest, Erika Morin, Marie Mougeolle, Rhéa Sky Walsh, Soula Trougakos, Angélique Willkie, Kim Long, Alice Delapierre.
Music composer: Thom Gossage
Visual and interactive design: Jérôme Delapierre
Costumes design: Pascale Bassani et Isabelle Van Grimde
Preliminary research for the costumes: Jérôme Delapierre et Manon Desrues
Sculptures Family portrait and accessories for the costumes: Marilene Oliver
Created by Van Grimde Corps Secrets in coproduction with DAVAI
Developed with the Plan numérique du Québec and the National Creation Fund of the National Arts Center.
EVE 2050 is one of the 200 exceptional projects funded through the Canada Council for the Arts’ New Chapter Initiative.
Van Grimde Corps Secrets is supported for all its activities by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Conseil des arts de Montréal.
Inspired by ideas from: Dr. Cristian Berco, Historian – Dr. Marie-Hélène Boudrias, Neuroscientist – Marie Brassard, Playwright, Director and Actor – Dr. Joanne Lalonde, Art Historian – Dr. François-Joseph Lapointe, Biologist – Dr. Isabelle Lemelin, Anthropologist – David Paquin, Engineer and Designer in New Media Creation – Darian Goldin Stahl, Artist and PhD Humanities Student – Dr. Monique Régimbald-Zeiber, Artist and Researcher on the construction of the gaze and history – Raphael Cuir, Art critic and Art Historian – Dr. Isabelle Choinière, Artist and researcher in new contemporary performative practices – Roland Huesca, Author and Researcher in aesthetics and dance – Dr. Jacques Mateu, Plastic Surgeon – Dr. Brad Necyk, Visual and media artist – Dr. Hiba Zafran, occupational therapist.
CREDITS FOR EVE 2050: THE VIRTUAL REALITY PROTOTYPE
Prototype inspired by the Eve 2050 triptych, by Van Grimde Corps Secrets
Created by Van Grimde Corps Secrets and the University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Artistic direction and choreography: Isabelle Van Grimde
Musical direction: Thom Gossage
Performer: Sophie Breton
3D design: Thomas Thevenet and Yohji David
Unity integration and development: Yohji David
Sound design: Florian Clar
Character animation: Michell-Eve Clavette and Yohji David
With the support of:
Iloé Françon, Production manager, Van Grimde Corps Secrets
Mathieu Perreault, Liaison and Industry Relations Officer, UQAT
Casey Côtes-Turpin, Laboratory manager and research officer, UQAT
Estelle Guingo, doctoral candidate, laboratory assistant and lecturer, UQAT
Amélie Richard, Managing Director, Eltoro Studio
Maxime Dussault, Artistic Director - Partner, Eltoro Studio
Van Grimde Corps Secrets would like to thank the Creation and New Media Department of UQAT and the UFR Ingémédia of the University of Toulon.