Film and Video Umbrella

PROJECTS

Finisterre

2008

Gemma Pardo

A journey along the shores of the English Channel as seen from both above and below the surface of the water, Finisterre is a poetic portrayal of the ever-changing borders of landmass and sea.

In this single channel video projection, Pardo brings together scenes of an isolated, rugged shoreline with occasional glimpses of waterside industry, in a seamlessly shifting stream of footage that drifts, as if in a dream, between two points along the coast of the Channel. The turbulent and eternal cycles of tide and light are witnessed from above and below the water's surface in contrast with a stillness of landmass, the sturdy silhouettes of coastal industry and fleeting moments of human activity.

An evocative soundtrack combined with subtle treatment of images to achieve an often abstract and painterly aesthetic, together create a heightened experience of the powerful forces of nature - echoing the techniques of Turner in a subtle meditation upon our complex relationships with the natural environment, industrial and human activity and subjective histories of place.

Gemma Pardo is a young Spanish born artist currently living and working in London. Pardo's work Congo was selected for the Bloomberg New Contemporaries Exhibition in 2007, for which she attracted considerable critical acclaim.

Nottingham Castle, 15-Nov-08 to 15-Feb-09
Friar Lane, Off Maid Marian Way Nottingham. NG1 6EL