The tongue that grasps is a short film which embodies and imagines the psychedelic experiences of early parenthood and early childhood, exploring the entanglements of creativity and the domestic in the context of the birth and growth of the artists’ first child. The work emerges from a broader interest and research into the 1960s and 70s counterculture, which represents the (unfulfilled) promise of a way of living otherwise. The film was made on a 16mm Bolex camera in a diaristic manner and following associational logics, exploring techniques associated with post-war experimental film, such as flicker, double exposures and stop motion; working against a certain lucidity, or firmness of representation, while incorporating elements of domestic figuration.