Pebbles

A rhythmic and visual dynamic is created through the juxtaposition of two screens as the camera zoom mechanism is used in relationship and in response to the incoming tide as waves pass across and through the framed areas.

The filming process using a Super 8 camera involved zooming in directly after a wave had crossed through the framed area revealing the pebbles on the beach surface. Time is provided before the camera zooms on each occasion to enable the viewer to observe the different configuration of pebble when the film is screened. This process is continued in stages to the full extent of the zoom when the pebbles are framed in close up. At that point the zooming process is continued and reversed in the opposite direction until the zoom is at its widest setting when a wide view of the pebbles is depicted, this process is then continued.

In screening, the 2 frames are set up adjacent to each other (and sometimes screened with one above the other) to create a counterpoint which juxtaposes the unpredictability of the sea and wave movement with the predictability of the zooming process. This process results in continuously changing spatial perspectives and registers a particular kind of filmic rhythm. When projected in a 2 screen format the contrast between those movements creates a visual dynamic and sets up the possibility for chance occurrences to be observed by the viewer. In addition when projected the reels of film alternate between mirrored pairs of images which appear the same on each of the 2 screens and pairs of images which are filmed and projected in random and in contrast to each other.