The wind-vane will sound and, in its perennial turning, emit a prayer:
a dialogue between the machine and the guardian gods of the rice paddy.
Davide Sebastian, 2009
Just came across this short non-narrated video work by Italian film artist Davide Sebastian. I don’t know what the title means Oryza Sativa (can anyone translate?) but it nicely conveys Indonesia, its relationship of its volcanoes to its rich soils, so necessary for its important rice paddy production and the awareness that praying to the gods is still ever important (as we have all been reminded about recently). I think the volcano is Mt Bromo on Java – I visited it once years ago. In fact it was my first trip away from New Zealand and I was entranced by the place. We got up early, rode on small horses (pretty scary for me as I’m pathetically nervous in a saddle) before dawn, across the lifeless lava plains to climb up Mt Bromo’s sides for the dawn).
Isn’t the soundtrack interesting, suggesting the power of the volcano at the start, then shifting to the individual tapping prayers of the weather vanes and ambient natural sounds. Can’t help thinking this would be a great installation piece for a gallery in how it links the power of nature and an instance of the respect for the environment that is not often seen and it clearly conveys this without narration, which is impressive. I love those windmills/demon/bird scarers too – aren’t they beautiful. I’m definitely thinking of re-cycling a tin can to make one for the garden. See more of Davide’s work at http://www.davidesebastian.com (he’s got a beautiful audiovisual website and has some skill as a film-maker)
If you can’t see the video above, here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzbJ5t9fkrI
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Cathy, lovely film; 'Oryza sativa' is the scientific name for rice.
Best wishes, Michael.
Thanks Michael! Of course..
Loved this video so much.
Hi Arun, yes, it has a lot of good ideas, particularly connecting the environment with peoples livelihoods and the sound element is as strong at the visuals.