Private Project

The More That Is Taken Away

A man starts to dig behind his house. He unearths himself.

The More That Is Taken Away is a 90-minute film that meditates on inheriting histories of genocide. The artist/filmmaker created an earthwork with hand tools, an excavation sixty feet long and ten feet wide, a construct and a site of performance.

Originally planned to take the several months, the project spread over nine years, deepening its concepts.

The film is constructed from video and photographs shot during the work.

Production and post-production were supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship and by grants from the New York State Council on the Arts. The More That Is Taken Away is a fiscally sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA).

  • Ben Altman
    Director
    https://www.benaltman.net/resume. Guggenheim Fellowship.
  • Ben Altman
    Key Cast
    "protagonist"
  • Ben Altman
    Writer
  • Ben Altman
    Producer
  • Quentin Chiapetta - MediaNoise
    Sound Design
    Colette War and Peace of Tim O Brien Letter to the Editor Squatters American Muslim Medal of Honor Ganden Liberation Heroes Seaside The Girl and the Picture Tour Without End Daughters of Destiny Film Hawk Carcel De Arboles The Blind Boys of Alabama The Return The Texas Promise 16 Acres When Harry tries to marry Helena from the Wedding Green Porno 3 Backyards
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Feature, Other
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 30 minutes 22 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 30, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    100,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    HD 1080 60p
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Ben Altman

Bio

Ben Altman (b. 1953) is a British-American artist living in Danby, NY. Over the last fifteen-plus years his work has focused on violent turning points of modern history, exploring how we inherit, mourn, metabolize, perpetuate, and heal from collective traumas. He draws ideas and materials from a range of practices: video, photography, sculptural interventions in the land, social practice and performances that engage his topics bodily. He often works in the context of where he lives.

Altman trained as an artist by studying Physics, towing icebergs, and working in commercial photography. His work has been selected for a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, two New York State Council on the Arts Artist Support Grants, a NYSCA/NYFA Fellowship, a Foundation for Contemporary Art Emergency Grant, a Project Support Grant from the Center for Photographic Art, two Artist in Community grants from the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County, the Houston Center for Photography Fellowship, the Critical Mass Top 50, and many others. He has exhibited nationally and internationally.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

As a multidisciplinary artist, my work responds to violent turning points of modern history, how they have formed our world, and what it means to inherit such collective traumas. I mourn, memorialize, and activate these intractable episodes by recording performances at my home and by visiting sites of past atrocities. At home I explore the roles of perpetrator, victim, bystander, and observer, while at sites I photograph tourists, signage, architecture, and landscaping.

My primary media are video and photography but I also draw ideas and materials from a range of practices including earth art, studio art, sound art, sculpture, installation, and endurance labor. My presentations vary from film to multi-disciplinary and interactive to traditional exhibitions.

My mother was Anglican and my father Jewish. Although only collateral members of my father’s family were caught up in the Holocaust, that connection underlies my concerns. As a British-born naturalized US citizen, my mixed origins and migration often lead me to frame my ideas with questions of home and belonging. I continue to develop my practice towards personal and public understanding of mass violence.