Makaillla Pallyaguru and Alex Lazaridis in Trans
in production
Trans: Experiments in Living
What's it like to be a bat? A rock? A potted plant? An automatic rifle? Another person? What does a storm think when it thinks of you? How do we plan for our disappearance?
Trans: Experiments in Living is a narrative that expands our sense of identity and self.
Trans is being created for digital video format. In December of 2022, we undertook a development phase. In May of this year we completed 9 days of shooting at the Russian Hall and the Seymour watershed. Editing begins in July, followed by animation sequences and musical composition.
Collaborating artists: Alex Lazadis (Director-Writer), Parjad Sharifi (Cinematographer), Jay White (Animation-Editor), James Maxwell (Composer), Janice Ma (Costumes), Arty Urdabayev (Sound Recording-Camera Assistant). Actors: Delia Brett, Sandra Ferens, Makailla Pallyaguru, Meaghan Pallyaguru, Sabrina Symington, Brahm Taylor, Raina Von Waldenburg, Allan Zinyk; and Anders Kellam, Ida Roeliani, Saskia Kuxdorf.
Makaillla Pallyaguru, Sabrina Sympington and Brahm Taylor in Trans
on now
Artwork by Jay White
The Refrain: getting in sync with the world is an investigation into the ideas that inform the work of Fight With a Stick. Using voice and sound we investigate our interconnections with the world around us and how collaboration with the other-than-human works. Each episode will explore one or more approaches, including philosophies such as assemblage theory, Object Oriented Ontology, post humanism, anthropology beyond the human, neuroscience, traditional cultures, resurgent cultures, new forestry, biology, and more.
Episode 1, Thinking with the Forest, connects the work of Montreal-based anthropologist Eduardo Kohn, and his careful exploration of the question ‘what is a self, and do plants and animals have one?’, to our own approach to collaborative creation with all the 'selves' around us. The episode also draws heavily on the work of political theorist Jane Bennett and her book Vibrant Matter, and the work of forest ecologist Suzanne Simard.
PODCAST: The Refrain: getting in sync with the world
Online Now