Sophie
Standford
About

A Rural Idyll
In the Forest Garden
Inner Landscapes
Absent Presence
Trace
Work on paper
@hortus_silvam
Trace; hommage to Bonnard

Two Nudes; Two Nudes


1994
Double projection Super-8mm film 
transferred to Betacam SP 
slowed to 10%
Duration: loop
Performers: Fiona Menmuir, Tom Noone
Location: Oxford
In this experimental moving image work, I directed two actors to perform seemingly trapped in a corner framed by the camera lens. They do not know each other, nor do they ever meet each other, yet projected side by side on human scale they seemed to share the predicament of the other; in the same physical situation but suffering their own psychological spaces. The grain of the Super-8mm film is further degraded by multiple transfers ultimately to Betacam and projected life size at approx. 10% speed reducing movement to the barely perceptible. In a darkened space the quality of the film through video projection seemed reminiscent of a pointillist painting technique bought to life. The figures move and shimmer on the wall like a Bonnard painting with all the alarming undercurrent and intense paranoia.  Far apart
two nude bodies are naked
together
side by side with a distance between,
strangers brought together in vulnerability
trying to get out,
cornered by two walls and the floor,
going nowhere,
ignorant of the other.

Far apart, two nude bodies are naked, together, side by side with a distance between, strangers brought together in vulnerability trying to get out, cornered by two walls and the floor, going nowhere, ignorant of the other.
© Sophie Standford, 2025
Unless otherwise indicated, all materials on these pages are copyrighted.
No part of these pages, either text or images may be used for any purpose other than personal use, unless explicit authorisation is given by Sophie Standford.