Investigating the life of things across space and time
The problem was how to kill them.
There were many possibilities.
With a rough, heavy stone
or a small, sharp knife
pushed deep through the skull.
Perhaps at arm’s length,
suffocated in dry detergent
in a large plastic barrel
watching them writhe and burn
in the caustic powder.
Or do it the old fashioned way –
stuff them into an old sugar sack
with sweet manuka ash,
fine, cruel and choking.
Yes, give them this white death,
pendulous and constant
as the summer bees, clear water,
wild blackberries and smoked fish
hung on a line in the sun
sizzling on a skillet
in beef tallow
fatty skin fried up like
pork crackling.
video; 2.33mins by Sarah Gillett. Press the PLAY icon to start the film.
When I made this video I was thinking about collage and material. I wanted the words to became visual images, textures that could be seen and felt as tangible objects.
I had been researching the different approaches taken by tech companies to making emails more readable on wearables such as watches. There was a discovery that we can take in and understand sentences much more quickly if those sentences are delivered a single word at a time on screen (as long as we are looking the whole time, I guess).
A move to a ‘real-time’ form of reading, splitting up sentences and separating words from their wider meaning is an interesting proposition. With the overall form of a piece of text removed, how long would we read, without knowing how far through we are?
Joseph reaches down and picks up a shell. He hands it to the boy, who is dragging a red plastic bucket across the sand. “Here. What about this one?”
Bill assesses the offering intently. “No Daddy,” he says firmly, “It’s broken here, see.”
It is late when I see you moving into the flat above the pub opposite. Must be past 11, because I hear the doors swinging open, hot blue noise gulping for air.