[Clips]
Rain, Cloud, and WeWalk are three clips for a pandemic video art series by Roberta Fineberg. The works filmed during 2020 in New York City redirect our collective attention towards nature and the great outdoors in the urban landscape.
The three videos are a journey in pause and repeat, slowing down, our parasympathetic nervous systems calmed by the sounds of rain, distant voices, quiet stimuli.
In “Rain” we watch droplets hitting a pond, hear faint voices, and are drawn in by the sounds of birds in New York City. In “Cloud” white puffy clouds and blue sky are reflected on water with chatter on the soundtrack. In “WeWalk” a human hand is the subject. An individual is walking in an unknown direction, we pay close attention to the sounds of their footsteps, the leaves on the trees, and one spoken word “Bonjour” (“Hello” in French) draws us in.
The three videos pose questions on and acknowledge that what existed is no longer and what remains is a question mark.
Rain (2020)
Video, 1 min 8 seconds
“Rain,” Summer 2020. Raindrops rhythmically fall on a ripple surface of an urban pond and create patterns. The camera pans the pond and records the sound of rain hitting the surface. Black-and-white pixels register abstraction. A city on pause, locations steeped in silence. What will become of our collective memories post social-distancing?
Cloud (2020)
Video, 23 seconds
New York City laid bare and its beauty seen more clearly. Birds perched on trees outside apartment windows, the air clean, and the sunlight bright. Nature abounds in the urban space. Looking within and outside ourselves, attention is a superpower anchored on one single perfect cloud.
WeWalk (2020)
Video, 3 min 5 seconds
Walking hours a day during the “confinement” in New York City, Roberta Fineberg shoots “ WeWalk” (parody of “WeWork”). The 3-minute 5-second video on the power of intention captures inaction in place of habitual action. Recorded in a stream of consciousness, shot from below, we see the subjects’s fingers clasping a colourful bag. Birds sing, the sounds of light traffic and passersby voices are faint. Against a luminous backdrop, the subject in the video walks nul part because there is nowhere to go.