Within, From Below

Within, From Below

by Elise Guillaume

synopsis

Where does the frequency of a body go when it dies?

Part of an ongoing series of short films on climate, grief and hope, WITHIN, FROM BELOW explores the relationship between our bodies and the ocean through sound, from scientific and metaphysical perspectives.
Centring on the industrialised Belgian North Sea coastline, the film interweaves anthropogenic noise and sounds of coastal landscapes — including sounds that are usually inaudible to the human ear — with sensorial imagery where bodies and water merge in fluid textures.

Scientific insights on underwater noise pollution are in dialogue with transcendental perspectives on the therapeutic potential of particular frequencies on our physical forms — which too are bodies of water, like the ocean and the living beings that inhabit it.

biography

Elise Guillaume (b. 1996) is an artist and filmmaker based in Brussels. Her interdisciplinary practice includes film, video, sound, photography and sculpture—sometimes presented as immersive installations. The body is a central element in her work: it becomes a vessel for interpreting the interconnections between the beings that make up our world. Interested in the relationships between psychological states and environmental change, Elise Guillaume’s work blends scientific research with personal introspection. She conceives of the intimate as environmental forms to explore the possibilities of a renewed relationship with the earth and one-another.

Elise Guillaume’s work has been presented internationally, including La Chapelle Jeanne d’Arc Contemporary Art Centre (FR), Espace Croisé Contemporary Art Centre (FR), Arsenale of Venice (IT), Friche de la belle de Mai (FR), LMNO Gallery (BE), Gasworks (UK), Paf Olomouc (CZ), Centrale for Contemporary Art (BE), Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles (FR), Guardian Art Centre (CN), Imagine Science Film Festival (USA), CICA Museum (KR), KIKK Festival (BE), VIDEOFORMES Festival (FR), Argos centre for audiovisual arts (BE), amongst others. Elise Guillaume has received support for her works, including funding from Arts Council England, the Science New Wave Film Fund, and the European Marine Board through the EMBracing the Ocean residency to develop her project Waves of Resonance in collaboration with scientists. She has also been part of residency programmes in remote environments like La Wayaka Current (2018) in the Atacama desert and the Arctic Circle (2023) in the Svalbard archipelago. Her film Hybrid Terrains (2021) was a finalist for the Aesthetica Art Prize 2022, received the Art Nova Prize from the ArteLaguna Art Prize and was shortlisted for the Prix De L’Oeuvre Expérimentale De La Scam. In 2023, her film Eventual Horizon was shortlisted for the “Talents Contemporains 13” prize by the Fondation François Schneider. She has given talks and workshops, including at the Sustainable Darkroom, the Royal College of Art, Espace Croisé, and ESA Dunkerque–Tourcoing amongst others. Elise Guillaume is a graduate of Central Saint Martins (2015), Goldsmiths University (2018) and the Royal College of Art (2022).