[If you are curious about the process used to create these videos, you can find more detailed entries in this website’s blog.]
This first video was an improvisation of an hour or so, to develop a story-telling process for a library holiday workshop. As I moved from image to image, I documented the process with photos. I found myself shifting shapes, switching between perspectives, and documenting multiple experiences. The audio was recorded in Dandenong. Looking back on the process, it still surprises me. The narrative inherent in this work is unintentional but it has been speaking to me more and more over time. (CC-NC-ND-4.0)
Perhaps the best example of where my sandpit is, what it looks like and how it works, is this piece. The poem, a musing about the nature of sand, was written as part of The Dirty Thirty poetry challenge, which is the creation of Abdulrahman Hammoud.
The two sounds you here in the background are the alpha of sand – waves rustling the coral branches which make the beach of Visale in the Solomon Islands; and the omega: the resonant and visceral hum of singing sand dunes.
I am hugely honoured by the following collaboration which led to the creation of this video. Farah Beaini is a magical Melbourne “spoken word poet and writer, interested in exploring stories of identity and belonging in an age of constant movement“. She embraces courage and compassion in equal measure and with the finest of touches.
The Taming Hyena project is a deeply personal story with long, historical roots – and to be able to imagine, illustrate and frame this work using sand and light has been an incredible privilege.
For any use of this piece, please contact for Farah herself for permission (or contact me and I will put you in touch).
This next one is animated fantasy using sand on an overhead projector and was designed mainly as an homage to the original story, an exercise in storytelling and an attempt to explore how what I do can be translated to something more concrete and less ephemeral.
It was photographed and recorded with an iPhone and edited using iMovie, GarageBand and Audacity and it is based on a story by @Lyraeon and @Kyraneko. It was illustrated and narrated with their permission and the music is by Alexander Blu.
(CC-NC-ND-4.0)
The next is a short trailer I made for the previous film.
At the end of 2017, I ran a reflection exercise in preparation for a friendly, neighbourhood participatory art exercise on New Year’s Eve. The following one-minute animation was the result of this exercise and is my illustration of my mother’s reflection of a significant experience that year:
This last one is just a bit of an experiment before the rain came and washed us out at Halloween…
The City in the Sea
The following is an animation I created for ‘The City in the Sea’, an Edgar Allen Poe poem, recorded and produced by Cygnet and Swan.
“A city of sin, ruled by Death, sinks to the bottom of the sea.”
The credits are as follows:
CAST
Siren – Marli van der Bijl
Siren – Ebony McClain
Siren – Lana Lunacy
CREATIVE TEAM
Producer – Cygnet & Swan Productions
Director – Alexandra Meerbach
Visual Artist and Film Editor – frog.sand.glass
Sound Editor – Elizabeth Bradford
Composer – Matt Shaw
Cygnet & Swan wish to acknowledge the Wadawurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people, the traditional custodians of the land upon which this episode was produced, created and recorded. We recognise their continuing connection to the land and waterways, and pay our respects to their elders past, present and emerging.
RavenMad is proudly supported by the Ballarat Arts Foundation as the grateful recipient of the Jack Anderson Film Award grant. Visit the RavenMad website to read more about our production or follow us on Instagram or Facebook for the latest updates. If you love our podcast, you can support us by purchasing from the Cygnet & Swan RedBubble store. You can also sign up to the Cygnet & Swan mailing list to find out about our other projects in development. LINKS Cygnet & Swan Productions – https://www.cygnetandswan.com.au RavenMad Website – https://sites.google.com/view/ravenmad RavenMad on Buzzsprout – https://ravenmad.buzzsprout.com Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/madcygnetandmadswan Instagram – / cygnetandswan_ Ballarat Arts Foundation – https://www.ballaratartsfoundation.or…
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