Grain
Ongoing film series since 2009
This film series began with the idea of creating four films, each with a seasonal theme, exploring the collision of old and new technologies, of changes both in media as well as agriculture. I have been using 16mm and 35mm film stocks, as well as some images sourced from super-8. All of the film footage, both black and white as well as colour, is being hand-processed with attention on both the economics as well as environmental concerns. Coffee/caffeine is being investigated as a developing agent with some success (image above). As the project progressed, I found that ideas about seasons began to blur and become less relevant. The limitation of four films had been based upon the intention to complete each to a projectable film print, something I did with two of the projects ("I Can't See the Forest Through My Dreams" on 16mm and "Seeds" on 35mm) but as the years went by, the importance of film exhibition declined to the point of being impractical. Not only is it more difficult to accomplish, but almost no festivals or venues have the interest or ability to show work in this way. With the reduced expenses, I've decided to create a longer series to explore this form and these themes on an ongoing basis.
Funded with a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Grain, Summer: I Can't See the Forest Through My Dreams (16mm, 2009, 10 min).
Grain, Seeds (35mm, 2013, 5 minutes)
Grain, The Inside and the Outside (16mm/HD, 2013, 22 minutes)
Grain, Gas (16mm/HD, 2014, 5 minutes)
Grain, Until We Part (16mm/HD, 2014, 2.5 minutes)