Visual TrajectoriesVisual Notes

From the Sky to the Wall: Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds in Fourteen Frames

Fourteen frames from Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva's Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, in five chapters. The sequence traces a line through the film, from what the wind carries to what stays fixed on a wall.

26 October 202614 frames

Written by AnotherStory Editorial

A round, dense mass of fine golden seed down on a white wall, darker at the centre and fading at the edges, held in place by a ring of small pins. — Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva, 2025. Still from the film.

14 frames · drag or use the arrows

01 / 14

I. The Air

Before the work, movement.

A long, wavering line of birds crosses a pale grey sky from the lower left to the upper right. — Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva, 2025. Still from the film.

A line no one has drawn.

The flock crosses the sky halfway through the film, between the drawings and the gallery. We begin here because everything Löhr gathers has first travelled through the air.

II. The Studio

Where things arrive, and stay.

Wide view of a studio with bunches of dried grasses and seed heads hanging from the ceiling; a woman sits at a long table under a window, with a green stool in front and a tall white plan chest on the right. — Christiane Löhr in her Italian studio — Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva, 2025. Still from the film.

Grasses hung from the ceiling, waiting.

The Italian studio, with seed heads drying above the table. This is the room where what has been gathered slowly becomes material.

A woman with dark hair and glasses, in a blue sweater, smiles slightly in a studio with a dark wooden beam, a work table, boxes and a window onto greenery. — Christiane Löhr — Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva, 2025. Still from the film.

The one who gathers, and waits.

Löhr stands in her studio, a dark beam above her and a window open onto green. The works come later. First there is the room, and the time spent in it.

Close-up of dried brown ivy seed heads, small round fruits on thin radiating stems, against a pale grey background. — Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva, 2025. Still from the film.

A bunch of grapes, seen close.

The camera moves in until a dry head of ivy fruit becomes a small architecture of stems and caps.

III. The Hands

The work is made one needle at a time.

A hand presses a cluster of needles and loose pale horsehair against a white wall while the other hand holds a small hammer below. — Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva, 2025. Still from the film.

The hardest gesture for the lightest material.

A hammer and a bundle of horsehair against the white wall. Each needle goes in with a single blow.

A hand reaches toward a white wall where a curved row of thin needles has been set at regular intervals. — Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva, 2025. Still from the film.

First the measure, then the material.

Needles set in a curve before the seed down arrives. Soon they will hold a cushion of seeds in place.

Low view of sewing needles of different heights standing upright in a white surface, with strands of horsehair threaded and stretched between them and a fingertip in the foreground. — Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva, 2025. Still from the film.

A line held between two points.

The camera at the height of the needles, where Katja Izmestyeva keeps it for much of the film, close to the gesture.

IV. The Line

Where drawing leaves the sheet.

A worn blue pencil hangs from a thread, its tip just above a ring of pins on a white board, with four strips of blue tape around it. — Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva, 2025. Still from the film.

Hanging above the centre.

A pencil suspended from a thread over a ring of pins, during the installation. Drawing and measuring in a single tool.

Close view of a white wall covered with small loops and rings of dark horsehair, fixed in rows, with fine strands falling between them; the left side is out of focus. — Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva, 2025. Still from the film.

A drawing the eye can walk through.

The wall that opens the film: circles of horsehair fixed one by one, like pencil marks carried into the room.

V. The Room

The right place in the room.

Christiane Löhr installing a work — Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva, 2025. Still from the film.

A woman with long dark hair kneels on a white floor, her face hidden by her hair, working with both hands at the base of a column of fine vertical horsehair threads; a roll of tape lies beside her. — Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva, 2025. Still from the film.

Close to the wall, close to the floor.

Reaching up to fix a work of dark seed strands, kneeling at the base of a column of horsehair. Installing asks for the whole body.

Close portrait of a woman with long dark hair and round metal glasses, wearing a dark checked shirt, looking past the camera in a white room. — Christiane Löhr — Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva, 2025. Still from the film.

A gaze that measures the room.

Löhr in the white gallery, weighing the space around a work before she lets it stay.

A small upright sculpture of pale stalks carrying round, translucent seed pods stands on a white surface; other works hang out of focus on the wall behind. — Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva, 2025. Still from the film.

A small grove that stands on its own.

A finished work on a white surface, others out of focus behind it. Each has found its place.

A captured cloud.

The down of a seed head picked in Prato, pressed by hand inside a ring of needles. We end here because this is the image that gives the film half of its title.

FLYING SEEDS, CAPTURED CLOUDS

Directed and edited by: Marietta SchwarzKatja Izmestyeva

Cinematography: Katja Izmestyeva

Colour grading: Stephan Knauss

Sound editing: Ben Kinder

Music: Marietta Schwarz

[Germany / Germany · Italy] · 2025 · 25 min

FROM THE SKY TO THE WALL

Concept, selection and sequence: AnotherStory Editorial

Texts: AnotherStory Editorial

Editorial direction: Giovanna Tinaro

Stills from Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds courtesy of Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva.

Part of the collection: Portraits & Insights

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Flying Seeds, Held in Place

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Visual TrajectoriesVisual Notes

From the Sky to the Wall: Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds in Fourteen Frames

26 October 202614 frames

Written by AnotherStory Editorial

14 frames · drag or use the arrows

01 / 14

I. The Air

Before the work, movement.

A line no one has drawn.

The flock crosses the sky halfway through the film, between the drawings and the gallery. We begin here because everything Löhr gathers has first travelled through the air.

II. The Studio

Where things arrive, and stay.

Grasses hung from the ceiling, waiting.

The Italian studio, with seed heads drying above the table. This is the room where what has been gathered slowly becomes material.

The one who gathers, and waits.

Löhr stands in her studio, a dark beam above her and a window open onto green. The works come later. First there is the room, and the time spent in it.

A bunch of grapes, seen close.

The camera moves in until a dry head of ivy fruit becomes a small architecture of stems and caps.

III. The Hands

The work is made one needle at a time.

The hardest gesture for the lightest material.

A hammer and a bundle of horsehair against the white wall. Each needle goes in with a single blow.

First the measure, then the material.

Needles set in a curve before the seed down arrives. Soon they will hold a cushion of seeds in place.

A line held between two points.

The camera at the height of the needles, where Katja Izmestyeva keeps it for much of the film, close to the gesture.

IV. The Line

Where drawing leaves the sheet.

Hanging above the centre.

A pencil suspended from a thread over a ring of pins, during the installation. Drawing and measuring in a single tool.

A drawing the eye can walk through.

The wall that opens the film: circles of horsehair fixed one by one, like pencil marks carried into the room.

V. The Room

The right place in the room.

Christiane Löhr installing a work — Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds, Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva, 2025. Still from the film.

Close to the wall, close to the floor.

Reaching up to fix a work of dark seed strands, kneeling at the base of a column of horsehair. Installing asks for the whole body.

A gaze that measures the room.

Löhr in the white gallery, weighing the space around a work before she lets it stay.

A small grove that stands on its own.

A finished work on a white surface, others out of focus behind it. Each has found its place.

A captured cloud.

The down of a seed head picked in Prato, pressed by hand inside a ring of needles. We end here because this is the image that gives the film half of its title.

FLYING SEEDS, CAPTURED CLOUDS

Directed and edited by: Marietta SchwarzKatja Izmestyeva

Cinematography: Katja Izmestyeva

Colour grading: Stephan Knauss

Sound editing: Ben Kinder

Music: Marietta Schwarz

[Germany / Germany · Italy] · 2025 · 25 min

FROM THE SKY TO THE WALL

Concept, selection and sequence: AnotherStory Editorial

Texts: AnotherStory Editorial

Editorial direction: Giovanna Tinaro

Stills from Flying Seeds, Captured Clouds courtesy of Marietta Schwarz and Katja Izmestyeva.

Part of the collection: Portraits & Insights

Further connections across the Journal

Articles connected by editorial field, category or shared themes, extending the reading path beyond a single entry.

Conversation

Comments

Loading comments...