Gimlet
4m · Animation
A phytogram cocktail made with three varieties of basil.
More Like This
Kitsch in Synch
1975
The animation, music, and optical printing of Kitsch in Synch was produced by Beckett and the students in two classes he was teaching at CalArts. Although a group project, it is clear that Beckett was the director. The playful, catchy soundtrack is used to create a cycle of building tension and release. The brightly colored shapes create approximate symmetrical formations and become more densely layered, with glimpses of iconographic objects and even live footage near the end. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in partnership with the iotaCenter, in 2007.
More info →
Windows (for piet and peter)
2025
A hypnotic mise-en-abyme constructed from JVC camcorder footage of a parking garage. Produced in tribute to teacher, filmmaker and video artist Peter Rose and the work of Piet Mondrian.
More info →
•
2024
An experiment in meditative and stripped down cameraless filmmaking, edited and sequenced using machine learning models.
More info →
This Socks
2023
'This Socks' is a stop motion animation short film that experiments with different techniques to illustrate a common everyday annoyance.
More info →
Gone Are the Days
2023
In a far future lies a strange city called The Axion. Within this city, a descendant of humanity known as The Prototype escapes from experimentation. Thus begins his quest to restore balance to The Axion, and search for what it means to be human.
More info →
Occhio
2024
An important sensory organ, the eye, is damaged. The exhausting healing process takes us on an inner journey full of pain, fragility and mental unrest, in which even superstition and witchcraft seem to have an influence on recovery.
More info →
Pryanama
2025
In an alternate Manhattan, two researchers-Robert Lang and Jeff Hawthorne-are drawn into Project STARLING, a covert operation buried deep within the Titanpointe building. When Hawthorne breaks protocol and vanishes into a mysterious portal, the city reels from unexplained phenomena. Lang is forced to navigate a collapsing reality as STARLING agents turn ruthless and the boundaries between dimensions begin to rupture. As transformations unfold and the city descends into chaos, both men confront forces beyond comprehension-shifting identities, spectral adversaries, and a growing sense that something vast and irreversible is approaching.
More info →
Orbit
2019
The sun’s energy circulates throughout the earth, feeding the cycle of life. Everything is connected in a natural loop, which repeats, like the circular discs of magical optical toys. This perfectly balanced rhythm is disrupted by human excess, throwing the cycle out of orbit and temporarily stopping the circulation of energy in nature.
More info →
Metamorphoses I
1978
For the multimedia exhibition Tangenten I (Tangents I), Dammbeck and co-organizer, sculptor and painter Frieder Heinze had planned to collaborate on a film that would combine non-camera animation with 35mm footage of a train ride between the two Dresden districts of Radebeul and Pieschen. When the exhibition was banned in 1978, Heinze turned to other projects, but Dammbeck continued working on the film by himself. Metamorphoses I—the first experimental film ever to be shown publicly in East Germany—marks the filmic beginning of Dammbeck’s long-term art project the Herakles-Konzept (Hercules Concept).
More info →
Leaf Peeper
2026
Autumn adventurers unite! "Leaf Peeper" takes you on a frantic frolic of Fall foliage until your eyes pop out. Shot on Super 8 in single frames with pixilation, puppet stop motion, frenetic pans, and plenty of plaid, this very short short film packs every second with as many picturesque and picaresque frames as possible, turning leaf peeping into equal parts immersion therapy and extreme sport to capture the sublime bliss of a lovely day out and about.
More info →
O/S
2023
Taking inspiration from 20th-century avant-garde experiments in graphical sound generation, the entire image in O/S functions as an optical soundtrack. Abstract motion becomes sound.
More info →
Effigy House
2024
A meditative journey through the surreal inner spaces of the filmmaker's mind as passing images and thoughts overlap, yearning to coalesce into a concept.
More info →