I read with interest the request for films about farming/agriculture, so I thought I'd share the fact that much of my work has been inspired by my move to rural, agricultural Sonoma County California including "Seasonal Forces Parts 1 & 2" (1995), super-8mm , color sound, 22 min + 24 min.
a very brief synopsis: An arbor covered with wisteria blooms extravagantly, only to collapse under the weight of a late Spring rain. it is rebuilt and the cycle begins again. In between occur an arson, flood, earthquake, wildfire, planting and the harvest. Part 2 reflects on the animals in our lives and their relation to us and to each ther as providers of food, companionship, clothing and sport. Seasonal Forces further alludes to current land use controversies such as the dissonance between agricultural homesteads and tract developments; decade-old gardens destined to be abandoned to bulldozers, and the transformation of vibrant orchards into sterile vineyards. Brian Frye wrote about the film at its premiere in San Francisco: Lipzin's Season Forces, reflects the terms and evolution of her engagement with the phenomena which shape the environment in which she lives and works... At times the filmmaker assumes the distance of the observer, documenting the fact of natural disaster or tracking the sun on its daily voyage from horizon to horizon. At other times, she immerses the viewer in the brilliant immediacy of experience, marveling at the new harvest or the clamor of machinery. In this way, the film identifies the tensions which bind author and text, speaker and spoken. My film sculpture, Home Entertainment Center for a Farmworker (1989) incorporates a re-edited version of an advertising film for pesticide-distribution machinery into a cabinet constructed from materials found on my farm. " Dovetailing with the concerns address in Seasonal Forces, this viewer-activated film sculpture recognizes the poisonous hazards endured by the people who work in the orchards and vineyards of Sonoma County, offsetting this continuing exploitation with a literal alternative: examples of produce grown by the artist using only the non-toxic diatomaceous earth with which they are dusted. -" Brian Frye. _______________________________________________ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
