Presenting the “Sexual Selections” Issue of Labocine

18 films exploring the urge to seek pleasure, connection, reproduction, and — for one species at least — love.

Labocine
Labocine
Jul 28, 2017 · 6 min read
‘Rose” via Eyeofcience.de

Once again it’s February, that special time of the year when we can almost begin to imagine spring, greeting card sales statistics leap exponentially, and the thoughts and hormonal systems of so many organisms begin to rewire for courtship.

This is the time to consider eternal questions: How have my evolved behaviors prepared me for this? What are the biometrics of attraction? What exactly does Oxytocin do? How might loneliness be assuaged by living furniture?

All of these questions, and more, will be considered, if not definitively settled, in this month’s issue, with 18 films exploring the universal animalistic urge to seek pleasure, connection, reproduction, and — for one species at least — love.

Issue Cover — Rose

The flower petal of a rose is covered with finely corrugated warts, each one cell. The fine structures of the cells cause the velvet shimmer of dark rose flowers. Scanning electron microscope, 900:1 (at 15x13cm). Via eyeofscience.de

The 18 Films of “Sexual Selections”

Field Work Brazil: Amor

Field Work Brazil: Amor

Soccer as an obsession but also a distraction, a fear, a hope and the platform to discuss emerging technologies, advances in body and mind communication, the preservation of culture and the future of our planet. Meanwhile, Brazilians poets and artists provide the connective tissue to this personal narrative told through Brazilian voices.

Courtship

Watch Courtship on Labocine

Lucien, a young researcher, who works on the genetics of courtship and mating behavior in fruit flies, decides to take a break from the microscope and his voyeuristic fruit fly-watching tendencies. A tale about love, sex, science and a young man’s struggle to overcome solitude and inexperience.

El Sol Como un Gran Animal Oscuro (The Sun Like a Big Dark Animal)

Watch El Sol Como un Gran Animal Oscuro (The Sun Like a Big Dark Animal) on Labocine

When a failed update causes a computer to become sentient, it falls in love with Allie. Feeling detached from the world, Allie is compelled to connect with her computer. Allie taps into the underlying essence of her surroundings through her computer and for the first time she is content.

Hybris

Watch Hybris on Labocine

What’s left of love in an eternal life? In a 1960s talk show a scientist discusses the future possibility of indefinite human life. In the meantime we see his memories of a short love affair.

Hypochondria of the Heart

Watch Hypochondria of the Heart on Labocine

“Longing for a home that no longer exists or perhaps has never existed” — Svetlana Boym. From a 17th century medical illness to a permanent modern condition, nostalgia fell through the cracks of academic disciplines becoming a hypochondria of the heart to be treated by poets and artists. Weaving together various new and archival materials, the film delves into the art of remembering and the neuroscience of memory,

Organic Sleep

Watch Organic Sleep on Labocine

A tour of human commodities in an unsettling future, where simulation has taken on entirely new forms.

Pandas

Watch Pandas on Labocine

After millions of generations they have a good chance of becoming another extinct species. But one day, an all too active primate called the human being found them and they became a pawn in man’s game.

Rites of Love and Math

Watch Rites of Love and Math on Labocine

Is there a mathematical formula for love without death? The film “Rites of Love and Math” is a sprawling allegory about Truth and Beauty, Love and Death, Mathematics and Tattoo, set on the stage of Japanese Noh theater.

The Love Competition

Watch The Love Competition on Labocine

Because “Love is a feeling you have for someone you have feelings about.” In order to find out if it’s possible for one person to love more than another Brent Hoff teamed up with neuroscientists at Stanford University to test seven contestants’ ability to love using an fMRI to monitor brain activity while the contestants focused on loving thoughts.

Love Hate and Everything in Between

Watch Love Hate and Everything in Between on Labocince

Can empathy resolve issues of aggression and subjugation, where wars, politics and economic sanctions have failed?

O

Watch O on Labocine

Evocatively framed macro shots of the human body, taking the letter “O” for inspiration. P Magazine released a DVD with this piece alongside their second book called Warm.

O was also showed as part of Studio Acme’s video showcase at the Whyte hotel in NY & was showed as an installation at Bargehouse gallery in London, UK.

25km2

Watch 25km2 on Labocine

An alchemist draws on the power of lightning to create splendid jewels.

The Making of Love

Watch The Making of Love on Labocine

The Making of Love is a psychological journey into the realm of lovesickness. The Making of Love shows a mind pondering upon the ailments and emotions occurring when the unrequited manifests physically and philosophically.

Praying Mantis Research — SUNY Fredonia Sexual Cannibalism and Reproduction

Watch Praying Mantis Research on Labocine

Current documentation of research on behavioral studies of praying mantis. Initial proof-of-concept for cross discipline studies between Biology and Visual Arts and New Media departments

What is Love?

Watch What is Love? on Labocine

“What is Love?” A heavily loaded question that’s on every one’s minds around this time of the year. Depending on whom you ask, you are bound to get a different answer. It could be a form of social attachment bond or being with someone special or pure selflessness or an intense infatuation caused by a bunch of chemicals creating havoc in your brain or just a simple smile.

Les Chercheurs

Watch Les Chercheurs on Labocine

Marc is an intern in the prestigious neuroscience lab of Professor Georges Erwin. He is working on an experiment that enables to make people laugh, and, in term, maybe to control one’s emotions. He has met Elsa, a first year student in the school where he works. The young woman troubles him…

Animalia Genitalia

Watch Animalia Genitalia on Labocine

Patty Brennan is an evolutionary biologist that studies the incredible diversity of genital structures — from snakes, to birds, to sharks. Understanding the coevolution of reproductive structures. Learn more at Science/AAAS XX Files

Sex On The Fly

Watch Sex On The Fly on Labocine

Male animals perform a variety of courtship behaviors to attempt to lure females to mate with them. Fly species in the genus Drosophila often use their wings to sing species-specific songs or perform wing displays to convince females to copulate.


ABOUT LABOCINE

Labocine is a new platform for extraordinary films from the science new wave. From lab footage to documentary to fiction, Labocine aspires to become one of the largest and most diverse platforms for science cinema worldwide.

On the first Tuesday of each month, Labocine releases a surgically curated issue of films connected by a theme. Issues are organized in an interactive network-viewing experience, branching out as interconnected nodes from the central theme — a phylogenetic tree of movies and ideas.

Part archive, part curated program, part experiment, Labocine challenges the way you understand, interpret, and appreciate scientific ideas.

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Labocine

A new platform for films from the science new wave. From la footage to #documentary to fiction, we offer over 1,000 streaming #science #films.

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