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Prior to following a master’s programme in fine art, Ugo Petronin (1985) studied anthropology and film. Unsurprisingly, social sciences continue to play an important role in his work. In his films he uses poetry and unexpected technical experiments to explore and visualize concepts like fluidity, regeneration, and confusion. A recurring theme in Petronin’s work is water. Combined with his experimental camerawork and ongoing curiosity for the possibilities and limitations of the medium, this theme also features in his latest short film, Maas Confusion (2024).
Shown at Prospects, the work Maas Confusion is based on a walk along the Maas river. Using a technique he discovered due to a faultily connected video encoder, Petronin transformed the recordings into digital line patterns. This resulted in images where all elements – the walker, the river, and the environment – fluidly and fleetingly flow into each other. This beguiling effect symbolizes both a cosmological force and our connection to nature, as well as chaos, confusion, and the unknown. The film thus challenges our power of interpretation, while the voice-over reciting the intuitive poem Corps D’écumes by the artist Clara Afonso prompts us to embrace confusion as a creative force. Petronin explains: ‘For me, art is a context to play with our expectations of technology and to challenge what we take for granted.’
Text: Esther Darley
Translated from Dutch by Marie Louise Schoondergang (The Art of Translation)