Toxic Suite
six 16mm films, 5 minutes each
Begin: (Toxic 1) 2002
Poppa: (Toxic 2) 2002
The Thin Letter: (Toxic 3) 2003
Naive: (Toxic 4) 2003
Anger: (Toxic 5) 2004
Final: (Toxic 6) 2002
Toxic, which is comprised of six different but interconnected 16 mm films each 5 minutes in length, I employ or juxtapose images of such subjects as demolition sites with surgery staples to reflect upon the body's processes of devastation and recuperation. The film's structure is shaped to reflect these themes: on the one hand, fragmented images slip in and out of view due to the destructive hand-developing processes I employ which destroys the film emulsion while on the other I chemically add colour to the emulsion to reflect my joyous response to the birth of my son, an alternate journey, oppositional to my life-threatening illness.
In all cases, my work is a combination of process and analysis reflecting my meditations on both film and my life. The Toxic suite, which began as a technical exploration of hand-processing aimed at creating film outside the mainstream infrastructure of expensive motion picture laboratories, forced me to consider the methods and meanings of more democratic film making process and structures. The intimate act of manipulating film in this way gave rise to the personal voyage-of-discovery films in this series, that reflect on not only the nature and meaning of film but of my own life as well.
Awarded audience favorite at the Festival of Cinematic Arts in 2005. (image)
