
The (Snow) Migrant: (the film)
This single channel video uses gesture and metaphor to explore the relationship between migration and climate change. A performer in a kayak is drawn onto fresh, deep snow by a dark clad character. She struggles with the vessel and imagines paddling away. Eventually she is subsumed in the rising waters.
This project was prompted by two journeys. The first was to southern Chile, where I had the opportunity as an artist-in-residence to explore an ecological preserve and also fly over Cape Horn. I worked in the presence of ecologists and climatologists, who left southern Chile for expeditions to Antarctica. They spoke often about the melting glaciers that were causing water levels around the earth to rise. The other sojourn was a three month stay in Rome, Italy. Envisioning the migrant path through southern Italy into Europe was a daily reality, as migrants sold wares on the streets and stories of deaths during crossings of the Mediterranean were prevalent in the news. These two experiences have come together in this project. It combines concerns about the ever-present climate emergency with a focus on the human cost of that devastation. Through it I hope we will consider the human migrant and the migrating climate with empathy and action.
The performer in the video is Balinda Craig-Quijada, with whom I share concerns about the perils that migrants face. She is featured in the installation film and the independent experimental film and the photo light boxes. She also created and directed the choreographic work for dancers (Snow Migrations) at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA and Kenyon College, Gambier, OH. My video scenography for the performance includes parts of the film imagery and additional geographic and poetic elements. The music for the dance project is by Charlotte Malin and is amplified by audio from various bodies of water that I have recorded, from the Indian Ocean to the Southern Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea. (Balinda Craig-Quijada is Professor of Dance at Kenyon College, Charlotte Malin is an independent composer based in Northampton, MA)
This single channel video uses gesture and metaphor to explore the relationship between migration and climate change. A performer in a kayak is drawn onto fresh, deep snow by a dark clad character. She struggles with the vessel and imagines paddling away. Eventually she is subsumed in the rising waters.
This project was prompted by two journeys. The first was to southern Chile, where I had the opportunity as an artist-in-residence to explore an ecological preserve and also fly over Cape Horn. I worked in the presence of ecologists and climatologists, who left southern Chile for expeditions to Antarctica. They spoke often about the melting glaciers that were causing water levels around the earth to rise. The other sojourn was a three month stay in Rome, Italy. Envisioning the migrant path through southern Italy into Europe was a daily reality, as migrants sold wares on the streets and stories of deaths during crossings of the Mediterranean were prevalent in the news. These two experiences have come together in this project. It combines concerns about the ever-present climate emergency with a focus on the human cost of that devastation. Through it I hope we will consider the human migrant and the migrating climate with empathy and action.
The performer in the video is Balinda Craig-Quijada, with whom I share concerns about the perils that migrants face. She is featured in the installation film and the independent experimental film and the photo light boxes. She also created and directed the choreographic work for dancers (Snow Migrations) at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA and Kenyon College, Gambier, OH. My video scenography for the performance includes parts of the film imagery and additional geographic and poetic elements. The music for the dance project is by Charlotte Malin and is amplified by audio from various bodies of water that I have recorded, from the Indian Ocean to the Southern Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea. (Balinda Craig-Quijada is Professor of Dance at Kenyon College, Charlotte Malin is an independent composer based in Northampton, MA)
The (Snow) Migrant: Dance Production
Choreographed by Balinda Craig-Quijada at Mount Holyoke College
Sceneography Claudia Esslinger
Music Charlotte Malin
Choreographed by Balinda Craig-Quijada at Mount Holyoke College
Sceneography Claudia Esslinger
Music Charlotte Malin