Half-Sick of Shadows
Single-channel video, color, original score, 5.57 minutes
Four grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.
There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
And moving through a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
Tennyson's poem, The Lady of Shalott, is a metaphor for the anxiety of being an artist. The poem depicts a woman, sequestered away in a tower, who has the Sisyphean task of constantly embroidering a tapestry based on the shadows of the outside world.
The artist creates artwork and is aware of the fact that she is isolated from the world but remains psychologically concerned and preoccupied with "the viewer".
For Half-Sick of Shadows, Gerrity collaborated with musicians for the original score. The goal was to heighten the psychological state of the girl obsessively painting a red brick in her glass tower. The result is a cacophony of abstract sounds and muffled voices making the viewer question if the source is coming from the girl's own mind or if she's being monitored by these voices. Various sounds and melodies were sourced out of on open lid piano, and a closely miked guitar, picking up extra field recordings and natural room sounds as well. Some of the more chaotic moments in the score were chopped up sections of structured improvisations with saxophone and guitar.
Cast: Zan Robertson, Sarah Jones
Photography: Christian Sorenson Hansen
Director & Writer: Alexa Gerrity
Editing & Sound Design: Alexa Gerrity
Music Score: Archie Carey, Odeya Nini
Production Consultant: Justin Lebanowski
Set Design: Alexa Gerrity
Styling: Sarah Jones
Crew: Jocelyn Duke
Shot on location in downtown Los Angeles
Special thanks: Justin Lebanowski, TJ Martin, Jocelyn Duke, Sarah Jones
Four grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.
There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
And moving through a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
Tennyson's poem, The Lady of Shalott, is a metaphor for the anxiety of being an artist. The poem depicts a woman, sequestered away in a tower, who has the Sisyphean task of constantly embroidering a tapestry based on the shadows of the outside world.
The artist creates artwork and is aware of the fact that she is isolated from the world but remains psychologically concerned and preoccupied with "the viewer".
For Half-Sick of Shadows, Gerrity collaborated with musicians for the original score. The goal was to heighten the psychological state of the girl obsessively painting a red brick in her glass tower. The result is a cacophony of abstract sounds and muffled voices making the viewer question if the source is coming from the girl's own mind or if she's being monitored by these voices. Various sounds and melodies were sourced out of on open lid piano, and a closely miked guitar, picking up extra field recordings and natural room sounds as well. Some of the more chaotic moments in the score were chopped up sections of structured improvisations with saxophone and guitar.
Cast: Zan Robertson, Sarah Jones
Photography: Christian Sorenson Hansen
Director & Writer: Alexa Gerrity
Editing & Sound Design: Alexa Gerrity
Music Score: Archie Carey, Odeya Nini
Production Consultant: Justin Lebanowski
Set Design: Alexa Gerrity
Styling: Sarah Jones
Crew: Jocelyn Duke
Shot on location in downtown Los Angeles
Special thanks: Justin Lebanowski, TJ Martin, Jocelyn Duke, Sarah Jones
