In the last few "stay at home" COVID19 months, my son introduced me to several films created through Harvard's Sensory Ethnography Lab. "Leviathan" was an interesting title, as it reminded me of an engraving by William Blake in his portfolio of engravings: "Book of Job."
The chaos suggested by this biblical creature "Leviathan" in Blake's print, as well as this film, reminds me of the state of the world: Corona virus, racial unrest, job loss. "Leviathan." as a film, can be appreciated for its spontaneous recordings of sight and sound that echo abstract expressionist treatment of color and form. With minimal narrative, this work appeals to me because it mirrors the way I approach the practice of video art.
Below I provide a 10 second clip I captured from watching the Criterion presentation of "Leviathan" on my own home screen. Visit the link below for more information.
https://sel.fas.harvard.edu/
a film by véréna paravel and lucien castaing-taylor
synopsis
in the very waters where melville’s pequod gave chase to moby dick, leviathan captures the collaborative clash of man, nature, and machine. shot on a dozen cameras — tossed and tethered, passed from fisherman to filmmaker — it is a cosmic portrait of one of mankind’s oldest endeavors.
William Blake's vision of Leviathan is equally powerful as this analog version proves. Blake's Book of Job is part of the Elmira College art collection.
Corona Virus = Leviathan - no question!