Deus Ex Machina is a choreography for a female and a male body, filmed and edited in 1970 by Ludo Mich, who also added a soundtrack and animated drawings to the film. The b/w film shows close-ups of two naked bodies caught up in a seemingly improvised choreography. The couple’s movements are both intimate and uncomfortable. Their nakedness is real. Their skins glow, itch and hurt with life. There’s tenderness. There’s dirt. Ludo’s b/w photography is powerful and has nothing to hide. Together with his nervously squeaking soundtrack and his wild animations they contribute to the existentialist nakedness of this film, which was selected for the 8th Biennal for Film in Paris in 1973. The original version of the soundtrack was composed by Ludo Mich in 1966 and was then used in his performance Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at Theatercafé Babylon, Bruges (Belgium). In 1970 10 minutes of the original 120 minutes were used for this Deus Ex Machina film. These 10 minutes were later included on the LP ‘Music From Films By Ludo Mich’ (Ultra Eczema, 2005). The original 120 minutes of recordings were lost.
Deus Ex Machina: With Mie Van Cakenberghe and Tony Lagrillière. Camera, editing, music, animations: Ludo Mich.
Mesmerized Zig Zag is a 4:30 min. short directed and filmed by Ludo Mich and edited by Rufus Michielsen in 2011. The film opens with the buzzing of a fly, an uncomfortable sound with its associations of filth, decay and death. Portraits of everyday people, friends, relatives, passers-by are filmed against a dark background and succeed one another over the soundtrack. One by one they join the buzzing of the fly. Each in his or her distinct way. A multi-layered choir of flies and people takes shape as the film progresses. The abject is assimilated and sublimated. If you can’t get rid of the fly, you’d better sing along with it.
The short film Movements was put together in 2011 from the video registration of a performance by Ludo Mich and projection works by Philippe Van Damme in 2004. Out of focus and slow-motion images show the artist doing a performance in a silver costume with lights attached to it. The alienating images are accompanied by a quiet soundtrack by Ludo Mich. Edited by Rufus Michielsen.