In April, Adelaide Festival Centre's Moving Image Program is exhibiting a selection of works on our King William Road digital screens.
Brydee Rood, Survival River Series - Whanganui Gold Waters, moving image, 5:55 mins
‘Floating with a composition of survival blanket pieces on the Whanganui River, I became a caretaker and guardian of the river, seeking balance within a fragile relationship between man and river, the precarious materiality of the pieces an ever-shifting dialogue. Survival River Series speaks to the state of emergency faced by many rivers across the world and our complex role as poisoners and potential saviours. There is something fascinating that exists in the murkiness between ritual and habit: the things we do habitually versus a ritual act of care – the conscious, unconscious, practised and learned knowledge that inherently develops our belief. Man’s contemporary relationship with water is questionable, underscored by geopolitics; viewed as a resource to be used, polluted, wasted and consumed at a price – be it economic, social, or environmental. The work seeks to quiet the imposed value of water within a capitalist structure, to evoke an alternative value and express a reverent, positive memory exchange with the body of water existing within us and connecting us to the earth’s rivers.’ Brydee Rood, 2017
Image: Brydee Rood, Survival River Series - Whanganui Gold Waters, (still), moving image, 5:55 mins
Dan Monceaux, Southern Fiddler Rays, moving image, 1:47 mins
Southern Fiddler Rays in seagrass meadows of Port Broughton, South Australia. Dan Monceaux is a documentary filmmaker with a keen interest in marine biodiversity and conservation issues.
Image: Dan Monceaux, Southern Fiddler Rays, moving image, (still), 1:47 mins
Deborah White, Possums in the roof, moving image, 3:32 mins
Possums in the roof is a video that honours the possums that share my urban space. Typically regarded as a nuisance, possums are the ultimate survivalists that cling to their habitat in the face of urban development. Their powers of vigilance and making-do serve as a guide to trust your instincts and discover the genius of a simple life. Surrendering to the notion of living harmoniously with the harmless animals, I have drawn inspiration from animism that reveres the spiritual essence of animals and regards their habitat as precious. The humour of the ritualised performance highlights the eccentric position of humans in the natural world. The performance-as-possum serves to negate the assumption that holds humans in a superior, privileged position.
Image: Deborah White, Possums in the roof, moving image, (still), 3:32 mins
James Hornsby, Trapped, moving image, 4:42 mins
Trapped (2016) is a video work that explores and presents ideas of intimacy in a digital age. It is driven by the artist’s own experiences as an adolescent, coming of age at a time when mobile devices and the internet were rapidly becoming an important part of the lives of those around him. Society’s widespread adoption of the internet has made computers the primary platform for social interaction.
'I seek to throw aside digital interaction and reconnect with real-life experiences, but I can’t help feeling left out and disconnected in an age where the internet and digital technology are rapidly transforming life, work, and politics. I am trapped, relying on technology to connect with others, only to find the interactions vacuous and empty.'
The work takes a critical look at the state of the contemporary image and the internet, showing fragmented, paper-thin cut-out slices of physical materials and the body, digitally manipulated and assembled to create an exchange between the digital world and “real life.”
The work aims to reflect the contemporary human experience and our relationship with digital technology, presenting a hyper-coloured, perplexing mashup of the digital and the “real” - a closer look into our lives in a techno-reliant world.
Image: James Hornsby, Trapped, moving image, (still), 4:42 mins
James Kurtz (EYE TV 2), James the Hedgehog, moving image,10:03 mins
‘EYE TV 2 is a mixture of real life, gaming, and animation. It stars, and is told through the eyes of Dexter, my black cat, as we’re thrust into a 1980s Jega video game.
Dexter loves me (James) and really hates it when I go away. We live by a beautiful white sandy beach in South Australia. One day, Dexter follows me onto the beach, and suddenly, we both find ourselves inside a retro video game.
Our plane flies to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where we’re confronted by a large volcano. I’m then woken from what turns out to be a dream, by my parents and Dexter tapping me with his paws.’ James Kurtz, 2017
Image: James Kurtz (EYE TV 2), James the Hedgehog, moving image, (still), 10:03 mins