No Horses on Mars

Look into the eyes of a horse and know that you are looking at an intelligent and sensitive animal. If a horse is an animal, what are we?

“Why am I me and why not you?” (voice over ‘No horses on Mars’)

We experience a trailer ride on the highway and wake up from anesthesia in a veterinary clinic. ‘No horse on Mars’ is a film, documentary in its research that plays with fictional elements. The horse’s POV is the most effective element of the film. The voice over tells the story of the galloping spirit that resides in all domesticated horses and questions the horse-human positioning. The human is introduced as a screen viewer who follows the horse, wants to measure her, record her and knows her as an object. Ultimately, from the human perspective, there seems to be a glimmer of recognition in the film for the individuality of the horse.

Directors statement

‘No Hoses on Mars’ is based on research and observations that emerge from, among other things, ethological, biological research into the horse – such as behavior, perception, brain function, hearing – and training with horses. Ultimately, it proves impossible to convert the versatility of horse perception to human perception. In my technical audio and image research with all kinds of cameras and lenses, virtual / augmented reality, transmitters (microphones), the perception became more or less ‘readable’ for humans, but by far too technical to transfer the total experience of the horse to the audience. The film turns these research results into an imagination of the experience of ‘the other’, an animal, the horse, and wants to see her as she is, the same as us and at the same time different.

The film ‘No horses on Mars’ is a direct substantive and factual successor to its predecessor ‘The animal that therefore I am’ (2019), in which I introduced ‘The Animal Gaze’ as part of a contemporary emancipatory vision on (human) /man) world.

‘No horses on Mars’; the question is how far we want to go. Beyond measurements and apparent knowledge lies an often unknown world of other individuals who can touch us much more deeply and differently than any human being. That raises another question: How can we cultivate an idea of care that means more than just taking care of ourselves?

Bea de Visser is recognized for her film art, installation work and sound performances. Her work can best be described as a digital media-based practice – from the perspective of a painter and storyteller who looks at the world through different lenses.

Films by Bea de Visser: A Breath Hush (1996, short), Another Another (1999, short), The Barren Land (2001, short), Roses and Fall (2006, short), The Second Memory (2004, short), Just a Minute Yoko (2004, short), Mama Superfreak (2009, short), Chairs Missing (2011, short) The animal that therefore I am (2019, short), No horses on Mars (2024)