Some Parallels

2018, Two Channel Video/Audio Installation, Runtime: 00:29:19

Described best by my collaborator Lou Watson.  “The way we filmed is that the drone faces up-river (on both channels), then pans to either the left bank or the right bank and then moves closer to those banks — this creates the movement of dragging the two banks together, creating an alternate river/landscape.

The score uses the idea of taking a (synthesized) deep breath to draw the sides together and then expelling the breath out again.
This project has become one of those things where we are just in the saddle, and the project-horse is bolting — we are letting it have it’s head — who knows how it will end? The river will show us the way…”

Lou and I met up and decided we needed to combine our two signature processes.  I programmed flight paths at key points along the Willamette that we agreed showed the diversity of use and misuse of the waterway and adjacent land.  The programmed flight paths start in the center of the river, at 200ft, and move out an equal distance from center, to a height of 120ft.  As the drone is capable of being programmed with this level of accuracy, no work was done in post to sync the camera motion or speed of the conjoined points of view.  This creates a “breath” taken with every scene.  The camera rests after each move, allowing the viewer time to contemplate, and take the time to breath and contemplate the scene.  The pairs of images along the bank were chosen for how they speak to one another, but Lou and both agree that forcing the viewer into a defined narrative would take away from the potential for unintended discovery.

The audio is scored by Lou Watson, using the Mise-en-scène motion to trigger the sounds from her palette of sounds.  The score moves from being musical, to textural, seamlessly