FILM PROJECTS
Effort 9
Created in 2017 while in residence at Marble house project, VT
While in residence at the Marble House Project we developed a site-specific durational project that included photography and film as a means to document and archive the work. While in practice with long-form improvising we created a meditative series of repeated movements and took them out into the landscape at the Marble House. Many of the marble surfaces on the property had undergone a natural process of oxidization, which gave the marble a dark gray tint, veiling the natural tone of the stone. With sandpaper on our shoes, each day we returned to the same stone surfaces where we repeated material developed in the studio. This repetition etched away at the oxidization, uncovering the origin of the stone in a crystallized, geometric design.
We documented each daily iteration in film and photography and subsequently created a split screen media dance which features both the daily practice and a composed version of the material on site. The film serves as both an archive and a creative endeavor to capture, preserve, and underscore the process. This project redefined how we perceived the role of the witness in performance work and the relationship between process and product. There was no formal audience for the live action of the project, though an audience would encounter the etchings as long as they lasted. Xan’s state of pregnancy was also at the forefront, which was reflected in Alex’s carrying of the marble stone.
