Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
‘I fear being trapped in the statue of my own body, whilst my mind gazes out.’
The 20th-century British philosopher Gilbert Ryle was a critic of ‘mind-body dualism’ – the idea first formulated by the 17th-century French philosopher René Descartes that there exists a clear distinction between physical and mental phenomena. Ryle argued against this idea in his book The Concept of Mind (1949), using the phrase ‘the ghost in the machine’ to describe Descartes’s theory. The Australian filmmakers Sophie Hexter and Poppy Walker borrow Ryle’s phrase for the title of this short documentary, which explores a powerful performance-art piece by the Papua New Guinea-born, Australia-based artist Jeremy Hawkes. Affected by a degenerative condition known as spondylosis, which has given him the symptoms of early onset Parkinson’s disease, he ceases the treatments that subdue the chronic pain, shaking and tremors for each iteration of his performance. Surrendering to his condition, he guides his left hand while his right seemingly ‘moves of its own volition’, engendering a provocative meditation on mind, body and the still-uncertain boundaries between them.
Directors: Sophie Hexter, Poppy Walker
Website: H W Collective
video
Art
A puppeteer makes sense of an overwhelming world by shrinking it down to size
5 minutes
video
Biology
Brilliant dots of colour form exquisite patterns in this close-up of butterfly wings
3 minutes
video
Anthropology
Does Mogi’s future lie with her horses on the Mongolian steppe, or in the city?
16 minutes
video
Genetics
Why it took a century to work out that humans interbred with Neanderthals
22 minutes
video
Art
The sprawling mural that depicts an unflinching people’s history of Los Angeles
7 minutes
video
Personality
A ‘dumpster archeologist’ reconstructs strangers’ stories via what they’ve discarded
14 minutes
video
Art
In his poem ‘London’, William Blake crafted a bleak vision of the city he loved
9 minutes
video
Evolution
How – and how not – to think about the role randomness plays in evolution
60 minutes
video
Art
A prisoner in Guantánamo finds some escape in building intricate model ships
6 minutes