Mike Bennion is a British sculptor and painter living in the USA who discovered AI in the autumn of 2024 and now can’t stop making films with it.
Find MIKE on VIMEO.ARTIST: Peter Gabriel
CREATOR: Mike Bennion
SONG: Before Night Falls FROM: Passion
This piece is a visual poem, attempting to complement the exotic and sacral nature of the music. It is heavily inspired by the 1969 film ’The Colour of Pomegranates’ by Sergei Parajanov. It uses a similar minimalist, old school film grammar, real locations, no camera moves, no special effects, no actors just ordinary people, symbolic gestures whose meaning has been lost over time. A combination of my subconscious and the whims of AI has produced something we don’t understand, and that is what hopefully holds our attention, to figure out the puzzle.
Before Night Falls is a track taken from Peter Gabriel's album Passion, released in June 1989.
Music by Peter Gabriel. Produced by Peter Gabriel.
The Ney flute plays a traditional Armenian melody.
Published by Real World Music Ltd. / Sony Music Publishing.
[Passion] was one of the most important records for me – an opportunity as a writer to try to do a different sort of job than I usually do. The brief for The Last Temptation Of Christ was to create something that had references to that time and that part of the world, but that had its own character and was to be timeless in a way.
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ARTIST: Peter Gabriel
CREATOR: Mike Bennion
SONG: Wall of Breath FROM: Passion
ARTIST: Peter Gabriel
CREATOR: Mike Bennion
SONG: Wall of Breath FROM: Passion
Video info:
This film is a response to an earlier film I made called ‘memento mori’. In that film a man reflected on the death of his little sister, using glimpses of childhood memories to illustrate his confused feelings, along with his whispered voice over.
This film is his sisters’ reply, from ‘the other side’, the next life. It uses the same visual grammar, a whispered voice, shots about nothing, elements of nature. She advises him to seize the day, not to dwell on the past.
I found Peter’s music in ‘Wall of Breath’ the perfect accompaniment. Quiet, reflective, evocative, allowing the words to breathe.
Song info:
Wall of Breath is a track taken from Peter Gabriel's album Passion, released in June 1989.
Music by Peter Gabriel. Produced by Peter Gabriel.
Published by Real World Music Ltd. / Sony Music Publishing.