Prima Materia
To an alchemist, the Prima Materia is a magical substance that is the source of all wisdom and knowledge, capable of granting immortality, transmuting base metals into gold, and was the essence of life. Prima Materia is based on the process of alchemical distillation of the four base elements: air, fire, water and earth. The goal of this distillation was the creation of “prima materia”. Each element is graphically represented using a line whose characteristics are systematically related to each element based on the alchemical idea of paired opposites: fire/water and air/earth. The process of alchemical distillation id fundamentally dialectical, a feed back of results and materials in collision. This ‘feed-back’ process creates the “first things” or prim material that is at the same time a symbol of immortality, since distillation symbolically slays itself and brings itself back to life, fertilizes itself and gives both to itself. It is One, who proceeds from the clash of opposites, and therefore constitutes the secret of the prima materia: numinosity. This movie is composed of five broad sections: the introduction of the elements the conjunction of opposites, the multiplication of the elements in their mixture, putrefaction where they decay into indistinctness, and finally resurrection where they are transformed into pure, white light.
Betancourt Michael
