What the Water Said, Nos.1-3

David Gatten / United States / 1998 / East European Premiere / 16 min.

synopsis

Unexposed roles of film were placed into crab traps and thrown into the Atlantic Ocean near the South Carolina coast. The sound and image were thus created by the chemical and physical interaction between the emulsion and the seawater, salt, sand, stones, plants and underwater animals. There are traces of animal encounters: the film was chewed, crumpled, scratched and nibbled on by crabs and fish.

The master of films made without a camera or optical processes created the footage over the course of three days in January and three days in October 1997 and one day in August 1998.