Sub Rosa / the sinkhole

The Atacama is the most arid place on earth. Only after unusually rare winter rains, the desert momentarily transforms into a sea of ​​pink flowers.

This experimental animation film is based on a single, extremely detailed photograph of a huge sinkhole in a forbidden zone near a goldmine in the Atacama. Standing in the sun-drenched, shadowless landscape at the edge of this black hole, and peering down, it was impossible to see the bottom. The gaping, dark cavity seemed to pull like a magnet – like an enigmatic entity with an almost tangible mass through its gargantuan emptiness. The photograph of the sinkhole and the surrounding landscape was re-recorded frame by frame in extreme close-up. The resulting movement suggests a mechanical, scanning eye, observing the landscape from up close. The soundtrack is based on a single, long drawn-out breathe-in, breathe-out.

Rod Henderson

Dutch artist Rod Henderson makes photographs, films, drawings, and has built several handmade houses. He has lived and worked in various countries in North and South America in extremely remote places since 1999: in the desert of Nevada, USA, the wilderness of British Columbia, Canada and in the desert at the foot of the Andes in Northern Chile. The experience of living in remote places (where availability of electricity, telephone, water, shelter, etc. are not self-evident) has become part of his long term projects, such as “Transvoid”, “Our life in a town of ghosts”, “Pink desert” etc.

His work has been shown internationally in exhibitions and received awards, including the 1st prize World Press Photo and 1st prize Sony World Photography Awards.