Posts

Posted on

A Peculiar Shade Of Blue

During the summer ‘lockdown’ of 2020 UK artist Rowan Jacqueline began taking her camera and a unique approach to choreography out onto the borderlands of land and ocean in response to our times and how they relate to the expression of grief…..

……A Peculiar Shade Of Blue brings ‘Slow Cinema’, ‘Earth Based Dance Theatre’ and a contemporary approach to exploring human experience within time and place together to create a unique series of films that capture the essence of this exploration.

The film work so far completed has already seen significant interest shown from some major contemporary recording artists who could provide the soundtrack for the films, but Rowan needs your support to see this realised and the project completed.

She has launched a crowdfunder to help make this happen and this offers the rare opportunity to supporters to become involved in the project’s realisation, both creatively and beyond.

Check out the crowdfunder here and get involved – its a beautiful project and, no matter how small or large, every contribution matters….

Posted on

Dakota 38

A powerful film.

Healing and reconciliation.

Much humanity.

In the spring of 2005, Jim Miller, a Native spiritual leader and Vietnam veteran, found himself in a dream riding on horseback across the great plains of South Dakota. Just before he awoke, he arrived at a riverbank in Minnesota and saw 38 of his Dakota ancestors hanged. At the time, Jim knew nothing of the largest mass execution in United States history, ordered by Abraham Lincoln on December 26, 1862. “When you have dreams, you know when they come from the creator… As any recovered alcoholic, I made believe that I didn’t get it. I tried to put it out of my mind, yet it’s one of those dreams that bothers you night and day.”

(Now), four years later, embracing the message of the dream, Jim and a group of riders retrace the 330-mile route of his dream on horseback from Lower Brule, South Dakota to Mankato, Minnesota to arrive at the hanging site on the anniversary of the execution. “We can’t blame the wasichus anymore. We’re doing it to ourselves. We’re selling drugs. We’re killing our own people. That’s what this ride is about, is healing.” This is the story of their journey- the blizzards they endure, the Native and Non-Native communities that house and feed them along the way, and the dark history they are beginning to wipe away.

Posted on

Decline and Fall

Brian Eno is the master of electromantic minimalism and atmospherics
Henrique Goldman is his perfect cinematic foil, gifted with stunning lucidity and an eye for gritty emotional impact.

“On working with Brian to produce the short film, Henrique comments: “It was a tantalising challenge to direct a visual track to resonate with Brian Eno’s expansive and multi-faceted musical universe. Like a riddle made of sound, Decline and Fall is mysteriously eclectic and hermetic at the same time. It’s beautiful and accessible, but also dense, deep, poignant and thought-provoking. As a lifelong fan it was a daunting prospect that kept me awake for several nights particularly as this is Brian’s first official music video.” ”

 

Posted on

The Valley

The utterly awesome Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou, summing up the zeitgeist….

“Circle down to the mouth of the valley
Kneel now down at the face, at the gate
As every footfall crumbles so fast beneath me
Under the weight of this eternal shame

And to you who’ve given up in the valley
And to you who’ve given all to its wake
Just another endless night falls around thee
Just another grey landscape to face

I want to step into the armor of another, stronger
I want to look once through the eyes of someone good
So I can gather up the names of our mothers
And wash away the shame and lift them to sainthood

But if you have given up in the valley
And if you have given all to its wake
It’s just another endless night fall around me
Just another fucked up thing I can’t save

But always run forever miles, does it end?
Then another wall rises in the distance
Their horizon parts for none, where mothers failed
To carry all their weight, I will be brave
Yes, I will be brave

You see them?
All those who have fallen
Stacked up like stones in a pile
You see them?
A tower of failures
So twisted and vile
You see them there?
Ancient and seething
Get them out of my way
You see them?
Those who have fallen
Get them out of my way

You see them?
All those who have fallen
Stacked up like stones in a pile
You see them?
A tower of failures
Get them out of my way
You see them?
Ancient and seething
Twisted and vile
You see them?
Those who have fallen
Get them out of my way
You see them there?
A tower of failures
Get them out of my way”

Posted on

Alison Hawver McDowell

Human capital is being developed to suit a world market.

The clear view of our current circumstances is hard won, requires extreme persistance and vigilance alongside a willingness to view material from a multplicity of sources, some of which will speak in opposition to our own beliefs and knowledge, but, as Alison McDowell demonstrates, it is worth it – in fact, it might be the vital act that will ensure our future free of indenture and subservience.

The video shows presentation excerpts by Alison Hawver McDowell as part of Rutgers New Politics Workshop I: “Politics Online, In and Out of Europe” held online via Zoom on Monday, October 26, 2020 View the presentation transcript with images here: https://wrenchinthegears.com/2020/10/…


Posted on

Chalk

 

Speak of your exile
of how
you don’t belong
or fit in
– its the key
that unlocks the door
to the way
Home

This fragment
of chalk
nesting
on all my journeys
in my breast pocket
nesting
on all my journeys

holding you
in my palm
I saw
a form
in my mind

Felt ancestors
around me
their whispers
issue from
my fingers
as

I sought
the form,
a form,
a way of speaking,
an invitation
both given
and received

and heard you say
speak of your exile
of how you don’t belong
or fit in –
it is
the key
that unlocks the door
to the way
Home

%d bloggers like this: