on going faster to be slower

According to Christian tradition, sloth is the indifference and inaction of an individual given the gift of life. Laziness was considered sinful for its shunning of god-given talents. To illustrate my concept for Spirit & Flesh, I combined this definition with the attributes of the animal called the sloth.

We shot on a Red camera called the Epic. I thought it necessary that the motion be as slow as a sloth to create an obvious literal translation (one inspiration was the work of video artist Bill Viola). The concept allowed me to experiment with a high frame rate, thereby slowing things down to an unnerving pace.

That’s where our model Dinara “stepped” in: Her talent for dancing and elegant movement kept the film moving forward by way of shape and contortion, giving the story a physical form. This constant, slow movement exemplified a kind of torture – a kind of hell.

Dinara was the epitome of sloth, of being adrift. She illustrates movement so slow that it forces one to fall down even when dancing. When she does rise, she leans against the fireplace and is compelled to idle, slip into slumber, and put off activity once more; given a chance at vitality in the garden, surrounded by the vibrant beauty of nature, she ultimately succumbs to lethargy, shutting out the wonders of the world.

In the movie “The Red Shoes”, the ballet dancer could not stop dancing and eventually threw herself in front of a train. Similarly, we realize that Dinara is destined for indolence, paralyzed by indifference, and doomed to lead a life of passivity and inertia.

– Elizabeth Perrin