Ben Rivers, Slow Action | 2010 | 44 min | 4-Channel 16mm/HD Projection | UK
Slow Action ties together four 16mm films shot on distinct islands: Gunkanjima, Japan; Tuvalu; Lanzarote, Canary Islands; and Somerset, UK. Existing somewhere between ethnographic study, documentary and fiction, Slow Action stems from Rivers’ investigation into the field of island bio-geography–the study of how species and climates evolve differently when isolated and surrounded by discordant ecosystems. The films shift from the present to conceptions of the Earth in a few hundred years, fabricating hyperbolic utopias that appear as possible future mini-societies. Rivers’ 16mm cinemascope footage is accompanied by a spoken text developed in collaboration with science fiction novelist Mark von Schlegell.
Slow Action was commissioned by and in association with , London; and supported by Bristol City Council, Elephant Trust, Arts Council England, Daiwa Japan Foundation and the British Council.
image credit: Ben Rivers Slow Action, 2010 (film still) at Picture This 2011
Offsite exhibition at 303 East 8th Ave. June 23-July 23, Tues-Sat 12-5pm
Curated by Amy Kazymerchyk and Sarah Todd
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Ben Rivers was born in Somerset in 1972. He studied Fine Art at Falmouth School of Art, 1990 – 1993 and is currently represented by . Ben has exhibited at numerous international film festivals and galleries, and won numerous awards, most notably the Tiger Award for Short Film, International Film Festival Rotterdam 2008 and Best Film, EXiS, Seoul 2008. He lives and works in London.
