Exodus

The artist and filmmaker Nicolas Provost traveled across four western states of the U.S., coming upon monumental landscapes of immense cinematic beauty. Without dialogue or explicit narrative, he presents his sophisticated compositions in the form of a slideshow of tranquil situations that invites the viewer to look closely. Sometimes we can identify signs of life in the vast landscapes: people wearing caps and taking photographs, a small group of deer and a car with a sign on it reading “Oversized Load.” Provost zooms in on the landscapes as the humans in them gaze around in amazement: the people on a bench, a woman waving, a couple standing arm in arm. Even the dogs face in the same direction, apparently impressed by their surroundings. Provost’s supermodel wife Hannelore Knuts also appears – she previously played a striking role in her husband’s feature debut . Sometimes we can only infer the presence of humans through the presence of reservoirs or electricity pylons. Although images of such silent witnesses in the landscape are by no means new to cinema, Provost looks upon them with a new and refreshing gaze.