Beach Study
Beach Study
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Artist
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Production Date
2012
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Medium
16mm film transferred to video, single channel, standard definition (SD), colour, silent
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Size
7min 33sec
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Credit
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 2012
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Accession Number
C2012/1/11/1
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Accession Date
23 May 2012
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Department
New Zealand Art
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Classification
Audiovisual
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Collection
Chartwell
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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.
