Beach Study by Sriwhana Spong

Being

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Beach Study

Beach Study

Artist

Sriwhana Spong
Production Date

2012
Medium

16mm film transferred to video, single channel, standard definition (SD), colour, silent
Size

7min 33sec
Credit

Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 2012
Accession Number

C2012/1/11/1
Accession Date

23 May 2012
Department

New Zealand Art
Classification

Audiovisual
Collection

Chartwell
Chartwell Notes

Inspired by the 1934 novella Duo by the French writer Colette, Spong’s film Beach Study (2012) explores ideas of disappearance and the ephemeral, both physically and psychologically. In the film, a female body conducts abstract dance movements on a beach, responding to the environment that surrounds her. This particular beach was one the artist loved as a child, but today it is hardly accessible because it is in the hands of a private landowner.

Shot on 16- millimeter film through coloured filters, the film has intense flashes of magenta, violet, and amber, and other flickering “light leak” effects. The female body appears and disappears intermittently, creating a surreal and mysterious presence. The overall effect suggests a precarious relationship between memory and experience, transience and monumentality.