The camera hovers through the engine compartment of an ancient car I found rotting in the forest. The huge rusted out engine covered in mosses and fungi is reminiscent of an elaborate set for a Gothic science fiction movie. My intention was to make a video in ironic celebration of the increasingly inexplicable human obsession with the automobile, while simultaneously paying tribute to the transformative power of nature. Set in …
View of Entrance Island is a single take film and is my most recent contribution to the tradition, which is as old as cinema itself. . I had waited several years for the right condition to shoot this project. I had a very clear idea about what I wanted but somehow or other I was never there at the location when the conditions were right. True to form , on …
Estuary was made during the three weeks between December 17th 1979 and January 6th 1980. The film was shot from a small cabin boat moored near the mouth of the Keyhaven River. This is a place known to me since my childhood and the location for several paintings, films, and photographic pieces. The camera was fixed relative to the motion of the boat as it responded to the action of wind …
The camera was placed on the flexible branch of a tree in a strong wind. The composition included both stationary and moving trees (a wooded landscape). The relationship of this landscape to the vertical and horizontal plane was maintained as much as possible. The camera ran continuously until all the film was exposed. The world is seen from the point of view of a tree as its branches sway to …
This film is based on the colour separation process. High contrast film stock was run three times through a stationary camera; once for each of the light primaries. In the composite image, anything moving is represented in primary or secondary colour whilst anything still, having been filmed through all three filters, is represented in “correct” colour. When projected the film resembles a moving impressionist painting but the passing of time …
The location for this film is a small London park which is situated close to the busy centre of the city. The camera faces south east across the park, in the foreground there is an expanse of grass surrounded by walkways and luxurious trees. In the middle distance is a junction of the busy Euston road, trucks busses and commuter traffic surge past halting only for the traffic lights. The …
The camera films a park landscape through the blades of a small, hand-built windmill. Each of the eight blades was covered in mirrored plastic. The film was shot on a windy day in the park, with three 100-foot takes being shot on the same day. The camera angle remained the same throughout. Variations in wind speed and direction cause a constantly shifting relationship between the landscape in front of the …
The location for this film is the western end of Hampstead Heath in London. Two cameras mounted on tripods with wind vane attachments were positioned about 50 feet apart along an axis of 45 degrees to the direction of the wind. Both cameras were free to pan through 360 degrees in the horizontal plane. There are three continuous 100 foot takes for each screen. The movements of the two cameras, …
Shot through an upstairs window in a water mill on the Isle of Wight, overlooking a tidal estuary. A camera recorded one frame every minute (day and night) for two separate three-week periods in autumn and spring. The film is shown on two adjacent screens, each having a soundtrack that was recorded on a sampling basis. “River Yar is one of the richest and most beautiful films to have been …
Shot in the waters just off the Port of Vancouver where large cargo ships wait at anchor for their turn to dock. Sometimes, in clearer weather, the ships dominate the landscape. At other times, when the fog moves in, the landscape dominates the ships. On some days they assume a monumental, sculptural presence, testimony to the technological domination of the environment. At other times they are no more than grey, …
