Sound impressions of Spiral Jetty at James Benning

La Centrale, Wednesday, September 24 to Sunday, September 28, 2025

For three months, a program of films and videos offers a journey through half a century of moving images, exploring some of the possible articulations between sound, music and image. Through a series of thematic "bouquets" or ones centered on a particular filmmaker or video artist, the program presents the work of emblematic or little-known artists, video art pioneers or film thurifers.

In a dialogue between projected works (room 1) and works on cathode-ray monitors (room 2), between formal, ethnographic and political approaches to sound, the program highlights the uses and practices of the musician's portrait, performance and soundscapes.

Each week, the films and videos disseminate discreet touches, apparitions and motifs, connections between bouquets and nods to the Biennial program: Paganini, a Sony Walkman, Jean-Luc Godard revisited by John Zorn, salt deserts, the Bachmann / Ceresole couple, brass bands and more.

A proposal by Maxime Guitton.

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room 1 ‍

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casting a glance

2007, 80', 16mm film transferred to DVD, color, sound
Courtesy of the artist and neugerriemschneider

"Casting a glance should ideally be screened in 16mm. A high-definition digital version of the work does not yet exist." (artist's note)

This film explores the transformation of Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty. An emblematic work of land art created in 1970, the spiral jetty, made of rocks, earth, salt and seaweed, juts out into Utah's 450-metre-long Great Salt Lake. James Benning visited it 16 times between 2005 and 2007, documenting its variations in shape and color as the day and seasons passed. The still shots allow time to feel the changes in the landscape. The sounds captured include wildlife, flowing or splashing water, a visitor's radio, an airplane, storms, or even a silence so profound it allows the viewer to hear the blood circulating in his veins.

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room 2

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measuring change

2016, 61', video, color, sound
Courtesy of the artist and neugerriemschneider

James Benning returns to film Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty, a historic 1970 sculptural work on the northeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake, whose variations he had documented between 2005 and 2007 in casting a glance (2007), a film shot in 16mm that dealt with the limits of reel length. measuring change is shot digitally, allowing a different relationship to time in these two identical long shots of 30 minutes each, filmed on December 28, 2015 at 8:57 am and 3:12 pm. The camera stands still. This time the lake has receded so far that the spiral of rock is completely submerged, while the shoreline is lost on the horizon, like the silhouettes that enter the frame in the second shot.

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James Benning

Born in 1942 (USA)
Based in Val Verde (California)

An independent filmmaker with a minimalist, experimental approach, James Benning holds a master's degree in mathematics. During his studies, he became involved in President Johnson's "War on Poverty", teaching the children of migrant workers and participating in a food program. He turned to film in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by a contemplative exploration of the American landscape. He worked in 16mm until the medium's obsolescence prompted him to switch to digital. He has also built replicas of cabins, such as Henry David Thoreau's at Walden Pond, and published books of poetry.