The video above is a short trailer. The full video “Song of the Open Road” is 8:38 long and is shown in screenings and exhibitions, or upon request.
NEW: The full video will be streamed online from December 14 to 22 on the Pebbles Underground film and video art website, as part of the Winter Screenings 2025.
Song of the Open Road is inspired by Walt Whitman’s poem of the same title. A winged figure – the artist herself – walks across a tiny planet, while text fragments of Whitman’s verses appear on the ground and drift through the sky.
From charcoal drawings emerge gradual transformations: lines begin to move, condense into planets, dissolve again into faces, hybrid beings, and spirals of interconnected figures. Through the interplay of 2D and 3D digital techniques and 360° video, a continuous metamorphosis unfolds, reflecting both the human longing for freedom and the experience of limitation.
These ongoing transformations mirror the condition of our time: threats and crises that break into seemingly secure horizons, but also unexpected moments of beauty, hope, and solidarity. The sky appears not only as a space of vastness and transcendence but also as a projection surface for our fears, desires, and the human need for connection. In this way, a vision of solidarity and togetherness emerges – a shared journey along the open road of life.
title: Song of the Open Road
technique: Experimental video, 360° video, charcoal animation, digital animation 2D and 3D
length: 8’38”
year: 2025
poetry: Excerpts from “Song of the Open Road” by Walt Whitman (slightly adapted)
music: “Beyond Time and Space – 1. The Outer Self (Star Child)” by Michael J. Stewart
concept, camera, cast, drawing, animation, effects: Maria Korporal
© Maria Korporal 2025
Exhibitions and presentations:
• December 14-22, 2025: Pebbles Underground film and video art, Winter Screenings 2025.
• December 11 and 18, 2025: Film screenings (Filmabende) in GISELA – Freier Kunstraum Lichtenberg, Berlin.
• November 7-28, 2025: Skromność (Humility), Galeria Sztuki Rozruch / Jeżyckie Centrum Kultury, Poznań, Poland.
• October 14-15, 2025: Polygon Picknick | Screening der Medienwerkstatt 2025, Medienlabor / formerly Kesselhaus of the Medienwerkstatt, Berlin.