Attempt at Brite Ranch/ homesteading the hill 2012

single channel HD video 22 min, loop

 

I give myself a task of relatively simple nature: To reach the ocean, to build a monument, to drag a small house up a hill. The aim is to establish a situation that, at least in my mind, mirrors news of environmental disasters and serves as a practical way to meditate on these events: floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and long spells of draught or excessive precipitation. My attempts are for the most part futile- the shovelled dirt never gets higher than the grade for “pile” on the measuring stick, the cold embrace of the Baltic is but temporary refuge from the contaminated soil, and the hill proves to be dangerously exposed to wind and wear.

The temporal aspect of the videos is denoted by the time it takes to complete the task or the time at which either I or the props wear out. The running time of each video is approximately 25 minutes.

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”For whoever makes a shelter of reeds and hides has joined his spirit to the common destiny of creatures and he will subside back into the primal mud with scarcely a cry”

Cormac McCarthy