Thorsten Fleisch’s cinematic experiments fuse physics, chemistry, and raw materiality to create sensory experiences at the edge of perception. His films reveal the invisible forces shaping our reality—electricity, light waves, and atomic structures—by exposing film itself to extreme processes of transformation.
From the cosmic abstractions of Kosmos and the fractal dynamism of Gestalt, to the kinetic energy explosions in Energie and Picture Particles, Fleisch’s work bridges the realms of science and cinema with a tactile, almost alchemical sensibility. Mustererkenntnis explores pattern recognition and human cognition, while Blutrausch turns to the body itself as a cinematic medium, using the filmmaker’s own blood to generate images. By manipulating matter at its most fundamental level, Fleisch’s films expand the boundaries of perception, inviting us to see, feel, and even experience the unseen structures that govern our world.
Your films often engage with the raw materiality of film and energy, revealing hidden structures and forces at play. Do you see yourself more as an alchemist, a physicist, or a filmmaker—or is the boundary between these roles irrelevant in your process? In works like Blutrausch and Energie!, you transform organic and inorganic matter into cinematic expression.
I'd say that I take inspiration from physics and natural sciences but my expertise lies more in the field of filmmaking. however I do like to use filmmaking tools almost as a twisted scientific tool to find out more about or discover new connections about the world around us and maybe open the world up to surprising sensual experiences.
You refer to your work as experiments. Do you think of film as a living system—one that can evolve, mutate in the making and possibly interact the viewer on a physical level?
Yes, definitely. I think the exposure of film on the human brain changes it. it changes our perception of the world and the perception of ourselves (as do other media as books as well of course). unfortunately even in its infancy film has been abused as a propaganda vehicle and to this day is still used as a means to convey propaganda in the advertisment industry which is HUGE. already film has evolved technically from the mechanical early days to the electronic and now to the digital age. it has also mutated into parts of the internet, video games and memes. I feel film in its different iterations is very much a living and breathing, everchanging organism.
The Science New Wave Manifesto outlines six traits that propose a way to formulate how science meets cinema, from hybrid forms to experiments to the merge of the imaginary with scientific process. If you were to propose a 7th trait based on your own practice and artistic exploration, what would it be?
I would like to add 'curiosity did not kill the cat', as for my own approach to film curiosity about the result is very important. it always starts with an idea and concept about something where the result is not 100% clear to me. there's nothing better that to be surprised by an unexpected quality in the outcome.
About the author > Habitat Profile
Thorsten Fleisch made his first film experiments with his dad’s Super 8 camera when still in school. Later he studied experimental film with Prof. Peter Kubelka at the Städelschule in Frankfurt. Thorsten Fleisch works with digital and analogue film. With materials such as the body, crystals, fire and electricity, he worked directly on 16 mm film strips. Crystals are grown on the film and 30,000 volts burn through photo paper. The results are poetic and abstract visual systems with references to catharsis, cosmos and the universe. In 2003 Fleisch received an Honorary Mention at Prix Ars Electronica in Linz (Austria) for his computer animated film Gestalt. High voltage is the centre of his work Energie! for which he has won international acclaim. He created commissioned work for Gaspar Noé and Basement Jaxx among others. His films received several awards and were shown at festivals worldwide like: New York Film Festival, Ars Electronica, Transmediale, Ottawa International Animation Festival, Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, San Francisco Film Festival, Videoex. He lives and works in Berlin and is now working on his first video game for mobile and Nintendo Wii-U called 'Teslapunk'.