Similar to Elam’s “Winter Garden,” “Backyard Winter” surveys fresh snowfall upon what appears to be her Logan Square home, a salient locale in Elam’s work. However, unlike its counterpart, “Backyard Winter” captures its representations at a higher vantage and consists of frantic and (mostly) uninformative pans sprinting across the lawn. Elam slows “Backyard Winter” near
Elam’s “Letters and Dishes” consists of two main sections. The initial sequence opens on white letters strewn about other clutter. The camera, mirroring the mess, flops about sketching the room slightly out of focus. In survey, Elam lays out three players: a figure donning full US Postal uniform (possibly Joe), a frizzed-hair woman putting herself
“Tai Chi II,” similarly to Elam’s “Tai Chi Bowling” and “Tai Chi,” focuses on movement. Through a sequence of close-ups, Elam coyly records portions of several individuals practicing tai chi, primarily focusing on the practitioners’ extremities as they float about. Distinct from its affiliates, “Tai Chi II” finds the action taking place outside.
“Garden ’82” studies what appears to be Elam’s Logan Square backyard, a locale frequently used in Elam’s work. The footage focuses on the space of the garden: sequencing together various vantage of the garden-the camera either fixed or panning steadily and slowly and concluding by taking note of the garden’s vegetation at an eye level
Through a series of pans around what appears to Elam’s Logan Square backyard (a frequent locale in her work), “Winter Garden” meticulously records a fresh blanket of snow. The virgin snow fragilely lies as the camera skims atop recording dead plants and planks of wood that poke through. The majority of pans remains slow;however, as
“Moving” opens out of focus as the camera tentatively (and shakily) depicts green foliage covering the orange and white siding of a U-Haul truck. Snapping into focus, Elam records several men moving boxes and furniture as they track across (seemingly) her Logan Square backyard, a popular locale in Elam’s work. From the voyeuristic vantage of
“Tai Chi,” similarly to Elam’s “Tai Chi Bowling,” focuses on movement. Through a sequence of close-ups, Elam coyly records portions of several individuals practicing tai chi, primarily focusing on the practitioners’ extremities as they gracefully churn. It appears that portions of this film also appear in “Tai Chi Bowling.”
“Windows” retracts in and out from the longing vantage of several windows (seemingly ones of Elam’s Logan Square home). Beginning in a dark room, the short immediately depicts contrasting environments, in- and outside, which are brought to juxtaposition via these windows. Tromboning, the camera focuses on objects outside, e.g. a discarded box of Miller Lite
Staggering to a start, “LA Cigith Gato Con Julia – B&W Fireworks -Julia & Kittens” opens depicting trance-inducing sirens shrouded by visual noise and darkness. The location and subject pivots taking interest in a young iteration of an Elam regular, a black kitten, scampering about a tile floor. Enticingly, a woman (seemingly the titular Julia)
Elam provides a small, voyeuristic case study of animal behavior in “Cat Garden / Birds.” Via binary structure, the film begins swiveling about (what appears to be) Elam’s Logan Square backyard inhabited by two black cats salient to her work. Initially out of focus, the cats loiter, drenched in saturated colors. Shedding ambiguity, Elam puts