The Sky Is Not the Limit
Ajet blue colour block is split down the middle by two vapour trails; a canvas of cream-coloured clouds morph and mutate, swallowing up the edges of the frame; swollen rainy grey storm clouds slide by angrily, looking near ready to burst. These are the first three skies seen in James Benning’s 2004 film Ten Skies, after which seven more follow in a film that sees the famed avant-garde filmmaker select ten aerial views in areas around his Los Angeles home and filming them in static takes that run for exactly 10 minutes each – the length of a single 400ft roll of 16mm film.
Having made films for more than five decades, James Benning is one of the most well-regarded avant-garde filmmakers of all time, known for his mostly slow, static landscape studies that encourage careful attention and reward patience. As one of his most minimalist works and one of the last that he shot and was a landmark film for him in many ways, notorious for the striking simplicity of its premise. Stare at anything for long enough, this film suggests, and whole worlds will reveal themselves to you.
