stills from film, 16mm. transferred to digital, 11min, 2020
Forces was developed through a period of correspondence between the artists, who wrote letters to each other as a way of imposing a formal constraint on their relationship as cohabiting partners. These letters combined the sharing of research and ideas for the film with personal reflections, circumnavigating ‘normal’ modes of being together, which had intensified during the pandemic. The film was shot outdoors in Rotterdam, with restrictive measures having been more relaxed in the Netherlands than in many countries. Hryniuk and Thomas filmed each other in various simple tableaus, in locations chosen for the conjunction of symbolic and material forces in the landscape. The work reflects on the acts of spending, sharing or wasting time, on dislocation from the world and on staking out a small patch of earth on which to lie down.
Credits:
Film by Marta Hryniuk & Nick Thomas
Camera, sound, edit: Marta Hryniuk & Nick Thomas
Supported by: Gdańska Galeria Miejska, CBK Rotterdam, Filmwerkplaats
2020