Sombra A Sombra

An experimental video poem which surveys the architecture of the deserted and abandoned through the eyes of memory with the powerful, evocative poetry of the Peruvian poet Cesar Vallejo. Reeves describes a dusty, sun-scorched territory of empty houses, religious icons, flowing water and beautiful landscapes. Musings on memory ghosts, the traces of humanity and death are echoed in sharply choreographed images which catch at the essence of the place.
An example of what Reeves terms “video poetics,” layered images of a deserted village in the Spanish countryside play counterpoint to poetry by Cesar Vallejo and Pablo Neruda. Using slick production techniques, Reeves marks the passing of time and human presence with a video transparency effect. What we see is a ghost of what was. Reeves’s precise editing makes for an extraordinarily fluid tape, as images seem to fly through the landscape, through past, present and future.