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ORCID
- Kayla Parker: 0000-0002-9493-8678
Abstract
A short film poem created with a constellation of wildflowers growing on reclaimed land by the shore of the Laira, the upper part of the River Plym estuary to the east of Plymouth on the southwest coast of Britain. This marginal habitat is vulnerable to climate change and threatened with erosion and flooding by storms and rising sea levels.Flow shows the beauty and complexity of the common wayside flowers we might normally pass without barely a glance, which are now threatened by ecological emergency. To create the imagery, flowers from the verge were collected during our walks along the estuary, then the petals and leaves were laid onto strips of upcycled 35mm cellulose acetate film, once used for spacing during ‘analogue’ film-making. The sound design is an original musical composition, improvised to the stream of botanical moving images, mixed with audio field recordings made at the location. The petals and leaves stream past as the haunting soundscape ebbs and flows. This poetic practice is a radical alternative to mainstream landscape and nature film-making.The film reflects the cyclical nature of the seasons and the twice-daily rhythm of tides, the ebb and flow between the fresh water of the River Plym as it floods into the Laira to meet the sea water pushing inland from the ocean. The name ‘Laira’ originates from the end of the 16th century and derives from an ancient Celtic word that corresponds to the Welsh word, llaeru, meaning ‘to ebb’ (Richards, 1861).Notes:EXHIBITION + SCREENINGWolf & Gallentz Gallery, Berlin, Germany (group exhibition, One Minute Vol. X, 29 October 2023)Visions in the Nunnery, Visions: programme 2 led by Webb-Ellis, Nunnery Gallery, London (group exhibition, 11 November to 18 December 2022)Fest Anča International Animation Festival, Žilina, Slovakia (forthcoming, 29 June to 3 July 2022)Undercurrents, Crisp-Ellert Art Museum, Flagler College, Florida, USA (group exhibition, 20 May to 17 June 2022)303 Projects gallery Lowestoft, Suffolk, UK (group exhibition, One Minute Vol. X, January and February 2022)Contemporary Art Ruhr, presented by Andre Werner, Directors Lounge, as part of the artists' moving image programme curated by Kerry Baldry, Berlin, Germany (group exhibition, Vol. X, 6 and 7 November 2021)Waste Art exhibition curated by artist Ina Loitzl, the Kepler Hall art space, Johannes Kepler University (JKU), Linz, Austria. The exhibition is an initiative of Prof. RA Dr. Willi Bergthaler (Institute for Environmental Law at the JKU) and focuses on contemporary artworks that transform plastic as a material into cultural objects (group exhibition, 22 June to 13 July 2021).Anifilm 2021 International Festival of Animated Films, in competition, Abstract and Non-narrative Animation programme; North Bohemian Museum, and Grand Hotel, Zlatý Lev Liberec, Czech Republic (23 to 27 June 2021).Tricky Women: Tricky Realities International Animation Filmfestival, Vienna, Austria, Remarkable programme; selected as a festival highlight by Zippy Frames and Joseph Norman (10 to 14 March 2021).Raveningham Sculpture Trail 2020 Norfolk, UK. Experimental animation programme curated by Professor Suzie Hanna for the outdoor micro-kino pavilion (group exhibition, 1 to 30 August 2020).Visual Container: artists' moving image programme curated by Kerry Baldry; VisualcontainerTV International Videoart Channel, Milan, Italy (group exhibition, Vol. X, online 24/7, 1 to 31 August 2020).Medium: 4K video with stereo sound, from 35mm original
Publication Date
2020-06-30
Keywords
35mm, artists' moving image, climate emergency, film poem, landscape film, Plymouth, post-industrial
Recommended Citation
Parker, K., & Moore, S. (2020) 'Flow', Retrieved from https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/ada-research/18
