SCORCHED
Scorched
Paul Wong, 2010
8:50 min., colour, stereo, single-channel w/ credits
Scorched is available in single channel format for screenings or as a four channel video installation: Ravine, Pool, Salton Sea, Joshua Tree.
With handheld camera Wong navigates down a ravine. The wide-angle view shifts from side to side, we see the parched red earth, we see and hear footsteps crunch the ground with laboured breathing. The mid day shadows are hard, the conditions are hot and harsh.
In picture-in-picture style Wong has structured four recordings made in the Sonoran and Mojave deserts of Southern California. Recorded in the blistering heat of July he positions the natural and man’s failed attempts to exist in this unrelenting climate. Against the background of the ravine he positions the study of an empty swimming pool. The graffiti covered pool used by skateboarders was part of a short-lived yacht club. Another study is that of abandoned habitats and trailer parks on the shores of the Salton Sea. These play alongside images of the Joshua Tree.
Scorched the installation was presented as part of ‘5’, a series of site-specific events and installations commissioned by the City Of Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Public Art Programs. www.5.paulwongprojects.com
Credits:
Videographer: Paul Wong
Post-Production: Brian Gotro
Production Assistance: Lisa Snelling & Rosanne Bennett
Recorded in the Mojave & Sonoran Deserts California, U.S.A.
Distibutor: Vtape