From bullets to Botox – watch the 2017 Jarman award…

From bullets to Botox – watch the 2017 Jarman award shortlist

Marianna Simnett filmed herself having a Botox injection in the throat for The Needle and the Larynx Photograph: Marianna Simnett

One artist analysed the sound of bullets used by Israeli soldiers to kill two Palestinian teenagers; another recorded herself hyperventilating until she fainted. An intense engagement with the modern world seems to mark out the 2017 Film London Jarman award shortlist, which celebrates experimental work with moving images. Other artists on the list chose to examine the effects of global warming, and the way our online presence decays after death.

Such diverse themes are representative of a varied panel this year: the six shortlisted artists include those born in Jordan (Lawrence Abu Hamdan), Israel (Oreet Ashery), the United Arab Emirates (Adham Faramawy) and Germany (Melanie Manchot), along with the UK’s Charlotte Prodger and Marianna Simnett.

Abu Hamdan’s experience as a forensic sound analyst, whose work on crime scenes has been used for legal investigations, is put to devastating effect on Rubber Coated Steel, in which the sound of bullets travelling through the air are interspersed with courtroom audio. Manchot’s Out of Bounds is set in an Alpine village and includes footage of a controlled explosion that sets off an avalanche. Elsewhere, the web series Revisiting Genesis, by Ashery, tells a blackly comic tale about making a digital will, and poses questions about how we will be mourned in the internet age.

Still from Janus Collapse by Adham Faramawy — A still from Janus Collapse by Adham Faramawy. Photograph: Vimeo

Perhaps the most immediately gripping work is that of Simnett, who films herself on The Needle and the Larynx having Botox injected into her throat to lower her voice. “She had to live with that for quite some time,” noted Marta Michalowska, a Film London project officer who helped curate artists’ work for the award.

The Jarman award is now in its 10th year. In the past decade, moving image artwork has blossomed from being a niche concern into one of the most prominent mediums for artists. Previous shortlisted artists include Duncan Campbell, Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, Luke Fowler, Elizabeth Price and Laure Prouvost, all of whom went on to be nominated for or win the Turner prize.

The winner of the £10,000 prize will be announced on 20 November, with a national tour of all the artists’ work taking place this autumn. To get an idea of their output, watch the six clips below.