Like Dawn to Dust
Vivienne Dick
Artist's biography
Description
'Like Dawn to Dust takes up the exploration of the rural landscape initiated in Visibility Moderate but it is characterized by a very different mode of address. Instead of appropriating from radio, television or film, Dick develops a more overtly 'poetic' aesthetic, through performance, cinematography and sound. The opening shots of a decaying 'Big House' bearing the scorch marks of a fire, are accompanied by an off-key piano, recalling stage melodrama or early cinema. The house, most likely a remnant of Anglo-Irish society, is abandoned but for the figure of Lydia Lunch, wearing her signature New York 'Goth' make-up and clothes. Lunch delivers a poetic monologue, both on screen and in voice-over, over a traditional soundtrack and her final words emphasize the circularity of Irish narratives: 'the past never dies, it just continually repeats itself.' (Maeve Connolly, 'From no Wave to national cinema: the cultural landscape of Vivienne Dick's early Films (1978-1985)', National Cinema and Beyond, Four Courts Press, 2004. Sourced from http://www.luxonline.org.uk/artists/vivienne_dick/like_dawn_to_dusk.html on July 20th 2016)
Images
Details
Title
Like Dawn to Dust
Year
1983
Tags
Language
English
Duration
00:06:00
Original formats
Physical: Film: Super 8mm
Aspect ratio
4:3
Colour
Colour