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posted by Elspeth at Sunday, January 29, 2006
I am Elspeth Duncan (Multimedia Artist): writer/columnist, musician, photographer, film maker, interactive conceptual artist, owner of 'Table for Two Made for You', Kundalini Yoga instructor living in Tobago. I create artistic works, productions and experiences to uplift, inspire, shift perspectives and raise awareness in Self and Others. Thank you for being here. Please use the links in the side bar to explore further. Click here to e-mail me.
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6 Comments:
I don't quite get what you are trying to say in the video....please explain.
Out of curiosity - I'd like to hear what you got (if anything?) before I explain. Thanks. E.
Technically, I liked the superimposition of the two scenes. I also liked the choice of activities. In the foreground you have the little Carib Grackle taking a bath, splashing happily in the puddle. The mechanical shovel in the background representing “progress” is exhibiting machine like dedication and oblivion as it goes about the work of digging a hole, maybe to lay some pipe or a foundation for some structure. Anyway, the bird doesn’t seem to be aware that his environment is being altered, and most likely in a negative way. The suggestion is that "progress" threatens this creature’s habitat and maybe its survival. I personally needed the Carib Grackle to come out on top so I had him at the end thinking that he had had enough harassment from the shovel trying to dig him an early grave and decided that he would fly away to Venezuela and with that thought he promptly exited stage left.
You basically answered what Anonymous was asking. When I was filming the excavator it looked like it was digging a large grave (symbolic of potential death of the environment). In the other shot, the bird was bathing happily in a puddle of rain in the grass. The metal teeth and the loud roaring sound of the machine superimposed over the bird make it a beast, 'attacking' the peace and nature represented by the bird. The way it turned out, the bird did walk away from it all at the end. The twittering of birds (when the loud roar stops) can be seen as hopeful, implying that nature lives on. But the question still remains: is the environment as we knew it coming to 'an end' because of man's concept of progress?
Thanks...where did u get the two set of footage from? how long did u take to construct such a concept?...i think the EMA can use some footage like that...are you willing to sell or donate it?
I shot the bird footage in a field behind my house after it had rained. Some days later I shot the excavator footage when they were digging another lovely field near my house to look for a pipe (they're unfortunately going to build 400 UWI student units there).
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