Out of the egg, charcoal animation, 5min11s, 2023

Film stills

This five-minute short film tells the story of a human‘s encounter with a firebug. By shrinking to the size of the insect, the human experiences its habitat, dangers and social behaviour. Eventually, the human returns to its normal size, now more aware and caring of the insects.
The video explores a transformative experience, suggesting that by paying close attention to firebugs, one can develop a deeper sense of empathy and respect. The merging of human and firebug in the film visually represents this correspondence, where beings influence and transform each other through interaction and intra-action. By attending to another, one begins to integrate parts of the other into oneself. By researching firebugs, the human becomes firebug. The others‘ struggles and pleasures are partly understood and shared.The scene of the human acquiring firebug attributes and the firebug getting human attributes shows such an exchange. The animation also depicts generic firebug behaviour, such as feeding on linden fruit, avoiding threats like passing feet and following scent trails to find conspecifics.
This film mirrors my own experience of observing firebugs, how sustained attention towards the other shifted my perception and influenced my behavior. By choosing a child as the protagonist, I aimed to reflect the natural curiosity and openness that children often have towards insects.