Shot from the inside of a house and through a window’s curtains, one can sometimes distinguish the colorful flowers in the yard outside. But, as in much of her other film work, JoAnn Elam is apparently more interested in filming textures, light, and colors. Panning over the curtains at various speed, the camera captures their
Beginning with a black cat sunbathing, “[Black Cat & Green Garden]” opens ground level, cutting frantically. After several restless, feline-centric beats, the camera moves upward, swiping from left to right vigorously, and takes blurry note of the garden at eye level. The camera finally relents;it slows to depict the garden at a manageable rate, surveying
Following a garden’s progression from dormant to hospitable,”Armitage & Western” utilizes sharp cuts to communicate the passage of time and to record the toiling of hunched-over women whose hard work fostered such transformation. Elam concludes the piece with a car parallel-parking in the background, visual focus placed on a blossomed flower in the foreground.
Summer flowers, Maine.