Bore Song

From a body of work made along the River Severn.

With film I attempt to describe distance, time and emotion in physical terms: the filmstrip as a measurement of the time it takes for the bore tide to pass, the length of a breath and the weight of grief.

Bore Song: a suspended vertical film loop projected onto a small chunk of float glass. At the edge of the river, a woman sings a single note at the point of the bore tide passing, her voice following the surge of water. In the gesture she performs, she marks my sister’s last breath and my own attempt to throw my grief into the river. The tide carrying breath/voice to the river’s source before it is pulled back out to sea.

Installation at Danielle Arnaud, 2011

“In a fairly tight mid‐shot, it is hard to tell whether we are looking at a sea or a lake reflecting trees. When the wave passes it does not collapse but continues, leaving swollen turbulence and a shattered reflection. The piece of glass onto which the image is projected increases the shimmering intangibility of the place and the visceral volatility of the persona’s emotional space. Her open mouth becomes a dark hole, a nothingness.” Cherry Smyth

The Severn Bore is a tidal wave that surges up the River Severn. At the time of the spring and autumn equinoxes the bore is at its highest as it roars along the river.

Performer: Nancy Trotter Landry; Sound Recordist: Christine Felce; Film Lab: Prestech

Made on a residency at Meantime Project Space in February and May 2011. Shown in a solo show at Danielle Arnaud, London Nov-Dec 2011; Ha Gamle Prestegard, Norway, Jun-Aug 2012 and onto Contemporary Art Society, London, 2013.

Acquired by the Contemporary Art Society for Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum.