Film 202 - Field Report 3 - Part one: "Deeparture"

This piece seemed to work as an ironic displacement between the animals and their natural habitat and between image and sound. I say "ironic" because we generally associate the natural habitat belonging to these animals with tranquility and flowing sounds, sometimes even silence. The deer in particular is an animal that is almost completely silent in nature yet its sound, along with everything else in the piece, is extracted. When first viewing this piece what becomes immediately apparent is the animal's placement out of context in a white room that reflects the silence. What follows is your realization of the lack of sound. In my opinion this film would be nothing if it was presented with sound because then we would only be seeing animals in a white room. The exclusion of sound offers an extra dimension into a realm connecting these animals with their natural habitat. Our common perception of nature as being a quiet and tranquil place is essential to the concept of this piece. Mircea Cantor’s driving force behind "Deeparture" surely came from her own perception of nature and may be related to what Aaron Ximm says in one of his essays, "I ignore and elide over equally natural ways of working with sound (or in sound art) outside of my own experience."