Dendromacy
In intimacy with the tree
Color and black & white film, 10'22, digital, 2017
Karine Bonneval, artist, Claire Damesin, ecophysiologist at Université Paris-Sud,
Editing: Gabrielle Reiner, sound: Jean-Michel Ponty
Production Light Cone, catalog Collectif Jeune Cinéma

Dendromacy seeks to relate the breathing of a human body to that of a tree. The space of the film is inspired by measuring chambers used to isolate a zone of the plant in order to record and then analyze its gaseous exchanges with the atmosphere, and the scientific protocols that follow. A chamber was “reinvented” for the needs of the film, then thermal cameras were used to make the tree's breathing and human breathing perceptible. A sensitive relationship develops between the two bodies, transforming the scientific experiment into a sensual, poetic experience. The word “chamber” is to be understood in the dual sense of “specific measuring instrument” and “domestic space”: the viewer, like the character in the film, is “in the room with the tree”, invited to share its intimacy. The title is a neologism based on the contraction of the latter term and the Greek prefix dendro-, which refers to the tree.
Dendromacy offers the viewer an empirical experience. It is presented in three parts, corresponding to different camera functions and inducing different chromatisms and image rhythms.
These colors and pulsations change according to the interaction between man and plant. A hand on the bark leaves its mark, the breathing of the person and the trunk becomes perceptible...

The shots were taken with a thermal camera with a cooled lens, normally used to detect CO2 leaks on industrial sites. The project was carried out in collaboration with Claire Damesin, and was supported by Diagonale Paris-Saclay and FLIR.
Editing was carried out in collaboration with Gabrielle Reiner. The original soundtrack by Jean-Michel Ponty was created using prepared wooden instruments and sounds derived from the material wood.