A race (with Nostalghia)
A borrowing of a gorgeous sequence shot from Andrei Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia, in which the main character challenges himself to bring a lit candle from one end of an ex-industrial facility to the other in several attempts.
The scene is mirrored, re-enacted, and transposes to a paused urban redevelopment.
The candle this time is carried by a drone, with a man attempting to keep draughts from blowing its flame.
Ruminations of time past and faith in the future are definitely muddled, and it’s not clear that recent technology can be trusted to help. While the characters in the respective sequences may appear to be racing each other to move the candles, the dual projection brings out a form of dialogue between them on chance and improvisation in face of uncertain outcomes,within a very determined, calculated set piece.
Dual channel HD video with dual stereo sound, ca. 9mins, 2024.
