The Bomb with a Man in his Shoe (2005, Ben Rivers x Paul Harnden)

A day in the life of a traditional shoemaker - seen throughout the process of making a pair of shoes, then off for a walk in the countryside. In an impressionistic rush that combines patina-marked images of shoes made by hand with the attributes of a genre film, Rivers returns to a favorite topic: objects as the bearers of their history. Shots of the cobbler at work highlight the handcrafting process, yet entirely without indicating the need for perfection. In general, purposefulness and the absence of fantasy are unlike Rivers. Ambiguity is thus waiting in the wings, in this case references to genre movies, exemplified in part by image distortion reminiscent of an old horror movie.