THE LOST WORKS, 2017 - 2018
In the summer of 2017, I had the privilege of joining the Arctic Circle Residency for 3 weeks sailing around Svalbard, as far north as 10 degrees off the pole. While thereI worked on a body of work entitled Lost In the Arctic - each artwork emphasis a sensation of the essence of the Arctic slipping between my fingers, the inability and lack of desire to grasp, contain, hold onto the experience of this vulnerable, tragically beautiful environment.
Becoming Lost, two channel HD video, script, 19:40, 2018
Becoming Lost required the entire year between first shots and exhibition to complete itself. While on the ship, I asked each crew member to tell me a story of a time when they were lost. I collected 12 stories in all. From those 12, I turned my focus onto four to delve deeper into. I had the belief that if I could learn these stories inside out, and learn to re-tell them as if they were mine, and I these people, in gesture and sound, then I would more deeply understand each person in front of me. For this work, I hired an acting coach, Amber Sealey to help guide me through this physical embodiment. Over the course of many months, I transcribed, learned, and re-enacted their stories. During which, I wrote many letters to Ludo, Sarah, Sascha and Benja, both in their voice and in mine. I used meditation and empathetic practices to deepen my connection as well.
CREDITS
Director Cara Levine
Editor Emelie Claxton
Production Mary Sette
Sound CJ Ballesteros
Lights/Camera Ever Arias
Acting Coach Amber Sealey
Click here to download .pdf of Arctic Lost: Appendices
Transcription Tiffany Ezuma
Self-Portrait with California Citrus, archival pigment print, walnut, 83x28, 2018
In the Arctic I felt a kind of despair and irony around the sheer futility in attempting to capture the immensity or vulnerability, in language or action, this place. Before embarking on our journey, I bought enough foil letter balloons to spell the words Emerald Mother. From there, I used and reused these balloons as language through anagram, messaging, and clusters of unmeaning string of sounds.
Emerald Mother, single channel HD video, 9:43, 2018
With assistance from: Justin Levesque, Brandy Leary, Natalie Arnoldi, Emma Hoette, Jay Allan, Carmiel Banasky, Sarah Gerats, and Pablo Seret De Ena
White Out, A newsprint collected and printed by Anna Bang Clark. My essay is featured on page 5, Asking The Arctic for Consent