Bone Cut (2017) focuses on the memorable introduction of the future in Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). In this historic scene, Kubrick juxtaposes two seemingly unrelated objects in the air, the earth-bound bone and the celestial spaceship​ orbiting earth, squeezing human history into one cut.

In Richmond’s Bone Cut, the viewer is mesmerized by the bone endlessly spiraling in the air. Yet, there is no progression from this primitive tool to the more advanced one – the spaceship, the future. The viewer is left in a state of suspension.

The work seeks to remind the viewer of some of cinema’s most salient technological imperatives: to break the causal rule of before and after as well as to overcome the Newtonian law of gravity. The bone appears to float and rotate endlessly in the never-ending moment. To obtain this effect, Richmond utilized match cuts as in 2001—an edit that matches movement or objects to create a sense of “seamless” transition from one shot to the next. Ignoring the current trend of digital processing—the ability to render 3D forms and rotate them seamlessly with 3D software—Richmond utilized a far more laborious technique. He edited multiple shots with match cuts to create this continual motion that in rapid succession both hides and reveals itself.

Directed and Conceived by Christopher Richmond

Cinematography: Colin Trenbeath

Editor: Christopher Richmond

HD Colorist: Colin Trenbeath

Re-recording Mixer: Matt Gangi

Sound: Christopher Richmond, Matt Gangi, Freesound.org licensed under Creative Commons: CC BY 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/), and Nature audio provided by Quiet Planet

Special Thanks: Augusto Aguilera, James Dean, DXIX Projects, Aitor Lajarin, Moskowitz Bayse, Jan Tumlir