River-Film: Cine installation

Abstract

A moving-image installation of the River Derwent using analogue cine film and multiple projectors Installation staged for the Landscapes and Legacy Conference, University of Derby, 26th June 2019. River-Film is a work in progress that explores the qualities of the River Derwent as both an object of nature and a human resource using the medium of cine film. The Derwent has been filmed from its rising at Bleaklow and a number of stages throughout its course culminating with its merging with the River Trent, south of the City of Derby. The physical substance of analogue cine film as opposed to the material remoteness of digital video has been employed and explored for its physical properties: flexible, fluvial and fragile. The films are presented in loops of up to 10 metres using multiple projectors. The installation of River-Film is a highly embodied experience that requires the viewer to negotiate the presence of machinery, loops of film and other viewers, as film footage rotates through each projector in an unrepeatable combination of imagery. As such, the work reflects the diverse topographical environments of the Derwent, the inheritance of a history of industrialisation, and the cycle of natural processes.