Alert. A letter from Rachel Carson
Frédéric Lavoie
Trailer
This film is part of Aseman Sabet’s Carte Blanche co-presented with MUTEK.
Created as a tribute to Rachel Carson, a biologist and pioneer of environmental activism, who wrote the famous book Silent Spring (1962), this work transports us into a circumscribed space of the boreal forest. Starting with a still shot showing the base of a tree’s roots punctuated by a spider’s web and odd creatures, the slow tightening of the framing and the shifts in the camera’s focus engage an experience of duration that is not without evoking the reflexive potential of nature. If the technological consonances of the soundtrack suggest the realm of science fiction, the delicate digital animations that run through the work reinforce its scope.
Created as a tribute to Rachel Carson, a biologist and pioneer of environmental activism, who wrote the famous book Silent Spring (1962), this work transports us into a circumscribed space of the boreal forest. Starting with a still shot showing the base of a tree’s roots punctuated by a spider’s web and odd creatures, the slow tightening of the framing and the shifts in the camera’s focus engage an experience of duration that is not without evoking the reflexive potential of nature. If the technological consonances of the soundtrack suggest the realm of science fiction, the delicate digital animations that run through the work reinforce its scope.
| Director | Frédéric Lavoie |
| Sound mixing | Thierry Gauthier |
Image tirée du film Alert. A letter from Rachel Carson // Image from the film Alert. A letter from Rachel Carson
Production
Frédéric Lavoie
Frédéric Lavoie (1976, Montreal) holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and a master’s degree in visual and media arts. Through a heterogeneous practice that takes documentary or fictional elements as materials, he produces stories, group portraits or thematic analyses. His research revolves around issues related to listening and observation, nature/culture relationships, the anthropocene and the loss of biodiversity, all within a critical and educational approach. His works, whether video installation or video art, have been presented in galleries, artist-run centers, museums and video events. Among his major achievements are the feature film La Nature Contre-Attaque (125 min., 2019) and the mid-career retrospective exhibition Réécritures (2014) at the Musée régional de Rimouski. He is currently working on an experimental documentary entitled FunFungi: a macroscopic incursion into the puzzling world of fungi.
Biographical notes provided by the film production team
Biographical notes provided by the film production team
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