Ritual and Repetition

arc, 2001
2:36 mins
Ivan Jurakic – Hamilton Ontario

arc
1 : the apparent path described above and below the horizon by a celestial body
2 : something arched or curved – a curved path
3 : a continuous progression or line of development – a story’s dramatic arc

Invited to develop a video in response to work from the Ed Video Media Arts Centre archive, I decided to respond directly to a location from one of my earlier pieces; The Muse (1994). Part of the production had been shot at an abandoned brick factory on the outskirts of Hamilton. The site, which featured a derelict warehouse, a brick smokestack and the ruins of several unique domed brick kilns, was a favourite spot for both curious hikers and disaffected teens; equal parts industrial sublime and Mad Max.

The site was in the process of being developed into yet another bland subdivision, so I determined to find some way to contrast old and new footage of the location. The end result was a departure, a single unedited shot capturing the banal encounter of a worker wrestling a sapling onto his Bobcat loader, an action that resonated with my conflicted feelings about the transformation of the site. The use of a composition by Eric Satie as soundtrack, added a layer of poignancy to the piece, turning it into a short eulogy.

http://ivanjurakic.com