Heron 1954 - 2002 (2022)
a visual eulogy inspired by the phenomena of makeshift memorials and small gestures of mourning. Honoring the life of a loved one who died due to an accidental opioid overdose, the film materializes the process of overdue bereavement by invoking a fragmented presence at the periphery of the mind. The use of a scanner and 16mm film produces soft-focused images of broken glass and debris, the warped image of a man's face shifting in place, balancing between the beautiful and the grotesque. A trio of still-lifes serves as an offering to the departed in the form of his favorite brand of cigarettes, flowers, and a bronze figurine of the film's namesake, Heron. The film score blends streetscapes, sirens, mechanical whirring, and various synthesized choral textures into a lush ambient dirge.
Color, 16mm film to 4K, experimental.
Total runtime 4:10 (16 second excerpt).
Heron 1954 - 2002 was originally conceived
as a single-channel public installation.
For more information on the project click here