In 2012 after
completing their first project together, Daniel & Clara found
themselves homeless and struggling to survive and continue making art
in the UK. It was at this point that an opportunity arose for them to
live rent-free in a beach house in Espinho, Portugal. Even though the
house was in a dilapidated state, it gave them the freedom to work
full time on their art.
For the next few years they lived in isolation, growing their own food and undertaking a life-changing period of study and creative exploration.
Through this time they became very interested in Jungian psychology and would start each day by analysing each other's dreams, this led to a great creative outporing and a deep interest in fairy tales, mythology, alchemy and ritual.
The resulting body of work they group under the title 'Alchemy & Exile' consists of three feature films and several short films, video installations, performances, publications and photographic series.
For the next few years they lived in isolation, growing their own food and undertaking a life-changing period of study and creative exploration.
Through this time they became very interested in Jungian psychology and would start each day by analysing each other's dreams, this led to a great creative outporing and a deep interest in fairy tales, mythology, alchemy and ritual.
The resulting body of work they group under the title 'Alchemy & Exile' consists of three feature films and several short films, video installations, performances, publications and photographic series.
“For us
at this point cinema was a sacred art, a ritual for transforming
ourselves and creating a space for the audience to go on their own
inner exploration. Transformation in cinema was a transformation in the self.”
- Daniel & Clara
The Quest for the Cine-Rebis
single channel video, HD, 2016, 25 minsThe Quest For The Cine-Rebis is a video essay/meditation on the art of cinema and the journey of the artist, created to accompany a manifesto of the same name. The film and manifesto can be viewed here.
In Search Of The Exile
feature film, HD, 2016, 64 minsIn Search Of The Exile is an experimental feature film which transports us to a mythic dimension populated by archetypal characters. We follow the Wanderer on a journey through mysterious landscapes as he is assailed by enigmatic figures and creatures that dance across the screen – reality is only momentarily graspable before disintegrating into a sea of colour, texture and abstraction.
The Kingdom of Shadows
feature film, HD, 2016, 71 minsInspired by dreams, family history and silent cinema, The Kingdom Of Shadows is the artists’ personal retelling of the story of Adam and Eve and their descendants. This surrealistic psychodrama looks at how the actions of the past still linger with us in the present.
Black Sun
feature film, HD, 2017, 61 minsBlack Sun is an experimental film about darkness, gender constructs, patriarchy and feminine archetypes. It's a cinematic ritual that plunges the viewer into the dark and takes them on a journey through an unravelling of the self, confronting personal and collective trauma.
“Through all these films we were unraveling our personal and collective images of gender, the alchemical figure of the rebis was a central motif – a being not male or female but both existing in a single form.”
- Daniel & Clara
Performances & cine-rituals
A series of live performances or cine-rituals which use video projection, live music, sound effects, dance and performed actions drawing from alchemy, tarot, dream imagery and the history of cinema.
Performances include Rehearsal for a Phantom Film (2016), Sacrificium Intellectus I (2016), Sacrificium Intellectus II (2016), Monochrome Witches (2017), WVS/VHS (2018).
Video Installations
Through this period Daniel & Clara created several video installations which explore the painterly qualities of video, drawing upon mythology and woven around archetypal characters to create an immersive experience that invites the viewer to slow down and step into another world.
Works include Witches Walk (2012), Sacrificium Intellectus (2012), Witches Walk Monochrome (2016), Silver Screen (2016) and Double Portraits (2018).
“Where dreams end cinema begins.”
- Daniel & Clara
Film Panic Magazine and Screenings
Between 2013 and 2018 Daniel & Clara published Film Panic, a magazine dedicated to contemporary artist moving image and experimental film which included in-depth interviews, essays, manifestoes and diaries.
Alongside this, they curated Film Panic Presents, a programme of screenings bringing contemporary moving image and experimental film to Porto, with support from Câmara Municipal do Porto.
Screenings & exhibitions
2020 Caminhos do Cinema Português, Coimbra, Portugal
2020 London Experimental, UK
2020 MeleM, Julijan Djupon, Niš, Serbia
2019 Experimenta Mixtape #7, BFI, London, UK
2019 Kinoskop, Belgrade, Serbia
2019 CODEC Festival Internacional de Cine Experimental y Vídeo, Mexico
2019 Cámara Lúcida – Encuentros Cinematográficos, Cuenca, Ecuador
2019 Live Cultures, Close-up Cinema, London, UK
2019 11tHour Festival, King’s Lynn, UK
2019 Mostra de Cinema Português, Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal
2019 Eureka Festival Universitario de Cine, Bogotá, Colombia
2019 Kino London, Candid Arts, London, UK
2019 Open Projections: Coventry Cathedral, UK
2019 Indielisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
2018 CRASH Festival, Goiânia, Brazil
2018 Exploding Appendix, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
2018 Gardunha Fest, Fundão, Portugal
2018 Gorst Underground Film Festival, Gorst, WA, USA
2018 DOBRA – Festival Int’l de Cinema Experimental, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2018 Bideodromo: International Experimental Film Festival, Bilbao, Spain
2018 Pugnant Film Series, Athens, Greece
2018 Exploding Appendix Avant-Garde Research Group, Brighton, UK
2018 CineAutopsia – Festival de Cine Experimental de Bogotá, Colombia
2018 Station to Station, Tallinn, Estonia
2018 Risco Cinema, Cinemateca do Museu Arte Moderna Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2018 South Texas Underground Film Festival, Corpus Christi, TX, USA
2017 Station to Station, Sofia, Bulgaria
2017 PA!, Rosa Imunda, Porto, Portugal
2017 Station to Station, Warsaw, Poland
2017 Portland Underground Film Festival, Portland, OR, USA
2017 SeventySeven, Bristol, UK
2017 Black Box, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, UK
2017 Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK
2017 Forest Happenings, Edinburgh, UK
2016 Casa das Artes, Porto, Portugal
2016 Cinema Passos Manuel, Porto, Portugal
2016 Microcinema Artist’s Moving Image, Cambridge Film Festival, UK
2016 UFilm, Bucharest, Romania
2016 South Texas Underground Film Festival, Corpus Christi, TX, USA
2016 San Diego Underground Film Festival, USA
2016 The Magick Cinema, Birmingham, UK
2016 Experimental Film Society, Filmbase, Dublin, Ireland
2016 Andrómeda + Shortcutz Porto, Maus Hábitos, Porto, Portugal
2016 EmContraste, ESE Porto, Portugal
2016 Raw Territories Gatherings – Music and Film Festival, Porto, Portugal
2016 Palácio das Artes, Porto, Portugal
2020 Caminhos do Cinema Português, Coimbra, Portugal
2020 London Experimental, UK
2020 MeleM, Julijan Djupon, Niš, Serbia
2019 Experimenta Mixtape #7, BFI, London, UK
2019 Kinoskop, Belgrade, Serbia
2019 CODEC Festival Internacional de Cine Experimental y Vídeo, Mexico
2019 Cámara Lúcida – Encuentros Cinematográficos, Cuenca, Ecuador
2019 Live Cultures, Close-up Cinema, London, UK
2019 11tHour Festival, King’s Lynn, UK
2019 Mostra de Cinema Português, Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal
2019 Eureka Festival Universitario de Cine, Bogotá, Colombia
2019 Kino London, Candid Arts, London, UK
2019 Open Projections: Coventry Cathedral, UK
2019 Indielisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
2018 CRASH Festival, Goiânia, Brazil
2018 Exploding Appendix, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
2018 Gardunha Fest, Fundão, Portugal
2018 Gorst Underground Film Festival, Gorst, WA, USA
2018 DOBRA – Festival Int’l de Cinema Experimental, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2018 Bideodromo: International Experimental Film Festival, Bilbao, Spain
2018 Pugnant Film Series, Athens, Greece
2018 Exploding Appendix Avant-Garde Research Group, Brighton, UK
2018 CineAutopsia – Festival de Cine Experimental de Bogotá, Colombia
2018 Station to Station, Tallinn, Estonia
2018 Risco Cinema, Cinemateca do Museu Arte Moderna Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2018 South Texas Underground Film Festival, Corpus Christi, TX, USA
2017 Station to Station, Sofia, Bulgaria
2017 PA!, Rosa Imunda, Porto, Portugal
2017 Station to Station, Warsaw, Poland
2017 Portland Underground Film Festival, Portland, OR, USA
2017 SeventySeven, Bristol, UK
2017 Black Box, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, UK
2017 Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK
2017 Forest Happenings, Edinburgh, UK
2016 Casa das Artes, Porto, Portugal
2016 Cinema Passos Manuel, Porto, Portugal
2016 Microcinema Artist’s Moving Image, Cambridge Film Festival, UK
2016 UFilm, Bucharest, Romania
2016 South Texas Underground Film Festival, Corpus Christi, TX, USA
2016 San Diego Underground Film Festival, USA
2016 The Magick Cinema, Birmingham, UK
2016 Experimental Film Society, Filmbase, Dublin, Ireland
2016 Andrómeda + Shortcutz Porto, Maus Hábitos, Porto, Portugal
2016 EmContraste, ESE Porto, Portugal
2016 Raw Territories Gatherings – Music and Film Festival, Porto, Portugal
2016 Palácio das Artes, Porto, Portugal
Interviews and articles
“Shadowland Reflections: essay and video on the making of The Kingdom Of Shadows” by Daniel & Clara, 2018
“21 Reflections on Creativity and Cinema in the 21st Century” in The Art(s) Of Slow Cinema Journal, Issue 1, December 2018
“Daniel & Clara: Interview in 12 Parts” by Bradley Tuck, Exploding Appendix, 2018
“Of Light and Darkness – The Motion Picture Explorations of Daniel & Clara” by Nikola Gocić, November 2020