MAX MICHEL THILLAYE
VIDEOGRAPHER
His work centres around the action of dissecting moments by rupturing indoctrinated routines,
striving to bare the constructs of existence in society. His films often centre around the
themes of adaptation but equally handles the process of ripping free from such structures.
Thillaye perceives filmmaking as a tool transmit the human experience, in as complete a
form as possible.
(IN) VITRO VIDEO 2021
The video stars a Berlin building during the lockdown and offers a glimpse into how our daily routines have been disrupted due to the new restrictions that now shape our lives. Our isolation from our usual surroundings can be likened with microorganisms, such as cells and molecules being separated, thus destroying the larger entity we built together. When we look in through the windows, we are offered a glimpse of how this single organism is behaving in their new circumstances, while also showing how they adapt to a new rhythm.
The film was recorded over seven nights, filming the same building in Wedding; the camera was static and didn’t move during the shooting time. The windows are in their original position. The finished work is a montage of about 24 hours of footage. The sound was recorded in Kreuzberg.
THE LAST RIVER 2019
The last river is a dystopian reflection on preservation of nature that follows the notion that Earth as we know it, may be gone very soon. The work shows a video of a steadily flowing river, where seaweed rhythmically filters the water and the ecosystem is allowed to run its natural course. This work attempts to capture, and thus save at least a glimpse, of a world that may soon be lost; though it will eventually be gone, we can at least still hold onto this illusion. It may not be in its original form, but it will stand as a memorial to what we lost. Equally it will be a gloom reminder of what happens when we as human kind, choose to ignore the consequences of our actions. The failure to capture the river in its natural form, can also be seen as a metaphor for the almost apathetic helplessness many of us feel in regards to these issues.
MARTA AND CO 2021
This piece is part of an ensemble of work related to «Ubiquitous» Max’s first feature film (in production). Here, human figures covered with natural soil are physically reacting in total synchronisation with some disruptive sounds. Our characters seem to be stuck in a dystopian nightmare.