Flaherty NYC Dispatch: THE FACE OF THE PLANET

Dispatch 10.28.19

Monday evening, October 28, 2019, was the second program of Flaherty NYC’s Fall 2019 program SURFACE KNOWLEDGE, presented at Anthology Film Archives. The theme of last night’s program, THE FACE OF THE PLANET, took a reflective look at the timescale in which nature and humans have coexisted, the consequences of such, and its culturally contextual meaning within the Anthropocene, as well as cinema. Following the screening artists Ja’Tovia Gary, Bill Basquin, film scholar Jennifer Peterson, and musician Jerome Ellis were in conversation with moderator Courtney Stephens, Flaherty NYC co-programmer and filmmaker. The evening was co-presented with MONO NO AWARE.

Nature and its proximity to time were forced into a new dialogue, as we have begun to think about nature as something that is now taking a finite turn. Last night’s second program of Flaherty NYC, curated by Courtney Stephens and Mathilde Walker-Billaud with input from Jennifer Peterson, forced the viewer to look at what it means when the natural cycle of things we take as continuous become disrupted. Although not completely apparent on the surface, the tension is only understood once humanity looks towards the future and evidence from the past in relation to the present.

The contextual relationship between the films shown last night and their position within the 21st century was key in understanding the program’s purpose. Specifically, when looking at Natures Handiwork (Percy Smith 1921) and Alaska’s Eighth Wonder (reel 2), what were originally created as non-fiction documents of place and species, now have something larger at stake. Jennifer Peterson identifies Alaskas Eighth Wonder (reel 2) as being a natural phenomenon, the yearly melting of a glacier, that today no longer occurs for many reasons, one of which is global warming. We watch as hundreds of tons of ice break away from an enormous glacier, fall into a river, and drift away. During Jennifer’s spoken narration over the film, she reminds us that the triggering aspect of these images is only relatable in the age of the Anthropocene, earths current geological time period. And the same can be said about Natures Handiwork, wherein the innocence and perfection of an ordinary butterfly’s life cycle is a constant reminder that the cyclical path that nature is supposed to follow is now being ironed into a line with a point on the end, considering that the tortoiseshell butterfly, depicted in the film, is no longer a common insect.

In accompaniment to the narration of Natures Handiwork and Alaska’s Eight Wonder (reel 2), Jerome Ellis played original, live scores. A beautiful interpretation of sound to image, Jerome’s use of saxophone, synth beats, and drone noises disrupted the dramatic essence of the methodical and repetitive cycles of nature in the films. During the discussion, Jerome describes the drone noise he plays as “being able to go on forever” in contrast to the breathing he does through the saxophone that has a defined, contingent flow, speaking directly to humans and the traceability of our presence here on earth.

Jerome Ellis performing a live accompaniment to Natures Handiwork and Alaska’s Eight Wonder (reel 2), — Jerome Ellis performing a live accompaniment to *Natures Handiwork* and *Alaska’s Eight Wonder (reel 2)*,

Not always thought to be or placed within the same context as plants and animals; humans and more specifically our bodies have strangely been viewed as separate from the very nature they come from. The moving image works of Ana Mendieta forces us to reconcile with this self-important distinction as she blends her body into a creek in her video Creek, or creates a human figure out of sand in the middle of a stream as shown in Silueta de Arena. The idea that the body becomes feminine when in dialogue with nature plays to the myth that women have a special and supernatural relationship with nature, unlike their masculine counterparts. The viewer becomes more aware of this connection in Barbara Hammer’s piece, Jane Brakhage, where we hear and see Jane, the wife of experimental filmmaker, Stan Brakhage, talk about her own relationship with the planet and the animals that live on her property. At one point she claims the birds fly out of the trees to accompany her when she hangs laundry on the clothes line and she participates in a daily ritual walk with her goats, dogs, and donkey where she herself is the leader. Jane goes on to describe the goats as “conservative”.

Ja’Tovia Gary, Giverny I (NEGRESSE IMPERIALE) (still), 2017. © Ja’Tovia Gary. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. — Ja’Tovia Gary, *Giverny I (NEGRESSE IMPERIALE)* (still), 2017. © Ja’Tovia Gary. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York.

Ja’Tovia Garys piece, Giverny I (Négresse Imperiale) heightens this conversation of femininity and the natural with distinct assertions of race and class and what it means when all four concepts share the same screen. Bursting at the seams with meaning, Gary’s work turns the questions that are being asked within the program around, reframing them through the perspective of a young American-born black women. Gary uses her own body in Giverny I (Négresse Imperiale), much like Ana Mendieta, as a tool to oppose a space, who’s accessibility has barely been granted to those who look and experience the world like her. In discussion Gary asks “What happens when you introduce a black woman’s body into Claude Monet’s garden?” Gary’s thoughtfulness when speaking on the restrictions placed upon black women, poses questions to the viewer about how the state of the planet affects the lives of those who are in privileged positions, versus those who are in more vulnerable ones, and how each negotiates the responsibilities of this planetary crisis.

Join us again on November 4, 2019, 7pm at Anthology Film Archives for Flaherty NYC’s third program, PRISONERS CINEMA. This night of short films from Germany, Iran, Australia, and the U.S., advances the allegory of Plato’s Cave into contemporary geopolitics, to focus on all that is not clearly visible, including those who are denied access to public space. Flaherty/Colgate Distinguished Global Filmmaker in Residence, Maryam Tafakory will be in discussion with film/media based artist and musician Joshua Gen Solondz and moderator, writer and curator Leo Goldsmith. We look forward to seeing you there.