The title refers to the elusive light phenomena known as phosphenes—shimmering, fluid forms that arise behind closed eyes in darkness. Ephemeral and impossible to describe precisely, they hover at the threshold between perceivable reality and inner vision. The film seeks to capture this transient state, the moment when perception and imagination intertwine.
Echoing the dual movement between consciousness and intuition, the work traces the imperceptible transitions that define both creative and cognitive acts. In this sense, PHOSPHENES continues a long-standing artistic inquiry into liminal perception, resonating, among others, with Rudolf Steiner’s meditative studies and Edvard Munch’s pursuit of the ineffable.
The flowing montage embodies Nicolai’s characteristic visual minimalism—quiet, precise, and temporally restrained—pulsating in close alignment with Sakamoto’s composition 20210310 from his final album 12 (2023). Together, image and sound form a fragile equilibrium: a meditation on vibration, resonance, and the generative silence from which perception emerges.
PHOSPHENES forms one segment of Carsten Nicolai’s ambitious film cycle 20,000, a 24-part work inspired by Jules Verne’s eponymous 1870 novel. Drawn to the figure of Captain Nemo and his submarine, Nicolai developed the concept in close dialogue with Ryuichi Sakamoto, whose collaborative exchange helped shape the project’s vision and cinematic approach.
director / editor: carsten nicolai
music: ryuichi sakamoto
producer: norika sora
director of photography: ali mahmut demirel
postproduction: simon mayer
technical assistant / design: nibo
20210310 by ryuichi sakamoto from the album 12 (2023)
courtesy of kab america inc.
supported by acht frankfurt
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