This screening presents films by Yanni Florence and Matthew Berka dealing with the posterity of creative work through two film portraits.
Risograph posters for Duckweed designed by Anna Higgins, tape cassettes of the Duckweed soundtrack by Matthew Berka and copies of Rod McNicol's BRUMMELS, 1978 / A LIGHT OF DAY BOOK NO.13. 2024 will be available at the screening.
Program:
Matthew Berka, Duckweed, 74 min, 2024
Now in his sixth decade and living on the outskirts of London in near-poverty on benefits and the products of his imagination, the supernaturally-inclined English writer Quentin S. Crisp (not to be confused with the other Quentin Crisp, author of The Naked Civil Servant) contemplates the value of living a creative life such as his. As chronic austerity makes security increasingly elusive, and without the assurances of fame, posterity, or financial stability—a condition shared by many—he begins to sense his life and writing edging toward material disappearance.
Duckweed (根無し草) adopts the form of the literary zuihitsu, a style of Japanese literature dating back to the Heian period, where one ‘’follows the brush’’. This feature-length film-essay is structured around readings of Crisp’s own zuihitsu of the same name, which, in essence, is the story of his life.
Yanni Florence, Rod McNicol And His Portraits, 18 min, 2024
For over three decades Rod McNicol’s photographic practice has
concentrated on portraiture. His approach to the genre is doggedly
consistent, with his subjects almost always photographed staring back at
the camera against neutral backgrounds. McNicol asks his subjects to
pause and stare into the camera as if it is a mirror, with the intention
of capturing portraits that function as witnesses to the inescapable
passing of time.
In this film Rod McNicol talks about his work, declining health, and
legacy as he faces eviction from his home studio that has formed an
essential part of his work for the past 45 years.
