When the Seeds Say Enough (2023)
When the Seeds Say Enough is the third installment in the Dreams Not Remembered series.
WHEN THE SEEDS SAY ENOUGH is a study on the power of film and video in relation to memory and loss with specific focus on the materiality of film and the material culture of death. By employing alternative photographic processes, this work draws attention to the meaning invested in antiquated technology and visual language, as well as its role in our conception of videographic memory. Using the personal archive as a raw material, WHEN THE SEEDS SAY ENOUGH challenges the postmortem canonization of individuals by extending their temporal influence. This work is an act of eulogy, an open letter to my late brother, with the thematic centerpiece being what remains of our childhood home. The left channel of the diptych, hand-developed in caffenol, invokes lived experience, whereas the right channel, culled from home videos, is a visual representation of videographic memory. This effect is achieved through mordançage and then creating a cyanotype of the Super 8 film.
Installation detail of the “Active” phone.
Installation detail of the “Passive” phone.
The installation of When the Seeds Say Enough is a disembodied version of the film. This iteration of the film has a running time of seven minutes and forty-five seconds as the establishing quote and the credits were cut to create a more seamless interaction. The viewer is called into the space by the ringing of a landline phone that is mounted to the wall. The only light in the space comes from the projection of a black screen on the wall. This phone, the ‘Active Phone,’ was reprogrammed using Arduino and Processing to ring three times every thirty seconds enticing viewers to answer it. When the receiver is picked up from the base, the projection of the film starts with the score and narration coming through the handset. Being that I was informed of my brother’s passing via phone call, it was imperative to have this interaction initiate the piece. When the viewer has decided that they have had enough and hangs up the phone, the film stops immediately as the projection turns black and the phone begins to ring.
When the Seeds Say Enough had its inaugural performance at Mono No Aware XVI Cinema Arts Festival. The live narration was accompanied with an original score by artist and composer Dan Criblez.
Selected Exhibitions:
Iowa City International Documentary Film Festival Iowa City, Iowa (Apr. 2024)
17th Bangladesh International Short & Independent Film Festival, Dhaka, Bangladesh (Apr. 2024)
Inflamável - Festival de Curtas em Super 8, Santa Catarina, Brazil (Apr. 2024)
The Ostranenie Theatre Manchester, United Kingdom (Feb. 2024)
Texas Photographic Society Abilene, Texas (Dec. 2023)
Mires Film Lab Nantes, France (Nov. 2023)
Kinoscope 5th Edition Belgrade, Serbia (Nov. 2023)
Defy Film Festival Nashville, Tennessee (Jul. 2023)˚
the 8 Fest Toronto, Canada (Jul. 2023)
CICA New Media Arts Conference Seoul, South Korea (Jun. 2023)˚
Alternative Night of Experimental Film London, UK (Jun. 2023)
Cabriolet Film Festival Beirut, Lebanon (Jun. 2023)
Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto Toronto, Canada (May 2023)
Grunwald Gallery Bloomington, Indiana (Mar. 2023)˚
Mono No Aware XVI Brooklyn, New York (Dec. 2022) †
†= performance
˚= installation