NON-CANONICAL: WORLDS
Ben Rivers explores identity and individualism in 24 short films
Worlds: Selected Works by Ben Rivers is available now through Second Run
Worlds is the perfect title for this collection, bringing together 24 short films from multi-disciplinary artist Ben Rivers. Not concerned with linear narratives, nor using digital filming techniques, he creates abstract worlds – allowing elements of chance, through degradation of his 16mm filmstock and live sound recordings to develop these pieces beyond the initial ideas.
Individuals are the heart of his work. Several of the shorts explore the idea and dangers of crowd mentality. We the People overlays soundscapes of a mob onto an empty model village, creating an unnerving, unseen chase. The abandoned landscape is a stark warning of the damage that groups of people can do.
In contrast to this, his profile pieces explore people living on the outskirts of society. This Is My Land – a heavily ironic title given the focus on living amongst nature – follows Jake Williams as he works and lives in the Aberdeenshire forest. Here Rivers is a more passive observer, allowing the audience to come to their own conclusions about the subject’s lifestyle and how we impact the world around us.
A similar style is adopted for Origin of the Species, which focuses on another individual living off the grid in the Highlands. However, this has a greater focus on how we have developed beyond working on and with the land. Astika sees this idea played out in Denmark, with the titular subject allowing nature to take over his farm. The booklet released with this collection explains that Rivers used out-of-date filmstock and a broken microphone for this, giving the film a disjointed, washed-out feeling – though this only adds to the feeling of disparity of Astika’s way of life from the norm.
Rivers’ clear focus is the impact of humans. Not necessarily on the wider world – although this is evident in many of the more ambitious pieces here – but also on how we take control of our own lives. A World Rattled of Habit, follows a father and son, with the father having lived in various countries, often – it seems – at times of great upheaval. A hoarder, the father goes through the various items he has collected; the act of collection becomes a rebellion against others’ ideologies.
In Things, Rivers turns this same analytical lens on himself and his own possessions. As he explores the links between the items, a loose narrative starts to develop, and then becomes muddled and confusing. The film becomes a loop – perhaps a comment on consumerism.
 The themes and explorations on show across these 24 films are too numerous to cover in a single review, though another overarching subject does show itself, especially in the earlier works. Rivers showcases his media literacy of brief and haunting horror shorts. These are not typical horror shorts, but perhaps strange little precursors to something like Skinamarink (Kyle Edward Bell, 2022).
Exploring abandoned buildings with just a 16mm camera and a flashlight, Rivers plays with the idea of liminal space, soundtracked by samples from classic horror films. These are bitesize pieces of just a few minutes each and act as a neat entry point into the director’s filmography, being both fiercely independent and unique, but also having tangible links to his larger themes of consumption, our impact on nature and abandonment.
Second Run has done an excellent job pulling this collection of work together. While there are no extras to speak of, there are more than seven and a half hours of Rivers’ work to dissect and enjoy here, coupled with a booklet that features an insightful essay by Erika Balsom, and brief comments by the director on each of the films included.
Writer and Director: Ben Rivers
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