In my video work Song of the Open Road, I appear as a winged figure walking across a tiny planet, while verses by Walt Whitman drift through the sky and appear on the ground. From charcoal drawings emerge gradual transformations: lines begin to move, condense into planets, dissolve again into faces, hybrid beings, and spirals of interconnected figures. Through the interplay of 2D and 3D digital techniques and 360° video, a continuous metamorphosis unfolds, reflecting both the human longing for freedom and the experience of limitation.
These ongoing transformations mirror the condition of our time: threats and crises that break into seemingly secure horizons, but also unexpected moments of beauty, hope, and solidarity. The sky appears not only as a space of vastness and transcendence but also as a projection surface for our fears, desires, and the human need for connection. In this way, a vision of solidarity and togetherness emerges – a shared journey along the open road of life.
LANGUAGE : English COUNTRY : Germany YEAR : 2025 DURATION : 8m DIRECTOR, ARTIST : Maria Korporal MUSIC : “Beyond Time and Space – 1. The Outer Self (Star Child)” by Michael J. Stewart CONCEPT, CAMERA, CAST, DRAWING, ANIMATION, EFFECTS : Maria Korporal POETRY : Excerpts from “Song of the Open Road” by Walt Whitman (slightly adapted)
Director statement : My artistic practice includes video art, interactive projects, installations, animations and drawing, created with both digital and analogue techniques. Narrative, direct images and sounds are central in my work, inviting deep involvement from the viewer. I often play with the boundaries between virtuality and reality, and address urgent social and ecological issues.
In recent years, the turbulence of the world has strongly influenced my work. During the lockdown I returned to charcoal drawing, which became the basis for new video works where analogue spontaneity merges with digital transformation. At the same time, I am developing new digital forms such as VR, AR, 360° and 3D animation, which I combine with charcoal to create a dialogue between hand-made and high-tech.
“Song of the Open Road”, inspired by Walt Whitman’s poem, continues this exploration: a personal journey that combines longing for freedom with a vision of solidarity – a reminder of our shared responsibility in today’s fractured world.
Bio : Maria Korporal was born 1962 in Sliedrecht, the Netherlands. She studied graphics and painting at the St. Joost Academy of Fine Arts in Breda. During her studies she began working with photography and she graduated with, among other things, a video installation. After her studies, in 1986, she moved to Italy, where she lived until 2013 in Sant’Oreste (Rome). Subsequently she moved to Berlin, where she now lives and works.
Maria Korporal’s artistic production includes video art, interactive projects, installations. Her multimedia work has been designed using a wide variety of techniques. Most of her projects deal with social and environmental issues, often with an ironic approach.
Her works have been shown and awarded in various exhibitions all over the world.
Pebbles Underground is focused on showcasing and promoting experimental, avant-garde, underground, and no-to-low budget projects by artist-humans from all over the world. Absurd, uncanny, witty, humorous, slow-video – all are welcomed, and loved.
Pebbles Underground is an independent project not funded by any government or corporation, and we intend to keep it that way. Main source of funding is personal donations from humans organizing the project, who are artists themselves, and the main drive of the project is formed by the energy and involvement of the organizers, and the public.
