A Moment of Care

The film attempts to offer differing perspectives on the dynamics of human relationships with the environment. One of its starting points was Deborah Bird Rose’s description of the Australian Aboriginal aesthetic of the shimmer. She describes this as something that “allows you, or brings you, into the experience of being part of a vibrant and vibrating world”. The film attempts to respond to this idea through conveying a sense of interconnectedness & entanglement, whilst also meditating on the role artistic responses play in that relationship.

The opening sequence imagines arriving in a place - the dawning awareness of sounds, textures, colours, and movement. Evidence of human activity is gradually introduced into each shot, whilst timelapse accelerates and emphasises the natural forces at work outside of a human timeframe.

The second chapter in the film considers the reductive process of human observation and data collection. We measure and collate, but does that bring the world closer to us or push it further away?

In the final section, humans as creators in the environment is explored as another aspect of this relationship. Making work in response to a place is considered as an act of caring - for the place, the materials, process, time, and ultimately for the maker themself.