Anthropomorphic Chaucer

Subtle Subtitles, initiated during the pandemic, activates objects from the Camberwell ILEA collection with MA Interior and Spatial Design students at Camberwell College of Arts. Senior Lecturer Colin Priest created improvised masks from everyday materials as engagement tools, which students onomatopoeically translated and subtitled through 'glitched' virtual recordings in workshops. These experimental responses, accessible via QR codes, explore film-space development, accessible media communication, AI translation trustworthiness, and inclusive practices.

The Wyrtweard's Tale (The Gardener's Tale) extends this work through a protagonist in custom costume translating ILEA objects into wearable elements: 'wind' suit, 'bird' mask, 'fool's parsley' tunic, gloves and socks. Inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer as depicted in Thomas Hoccleve's Regiment of Princes manuscript (1412), the work presents a scrolling Middle English/Modern English anthropomorphic poem by Priest, translated using AI software then edited. Sans serif text in sand and charcoal highlights translation, while Middle English features calligraphic initials. The landscape text against portrait protagonist creates multi-device film space with chroma green background, referencing an earlier work Wynde Belle Garden (2023) and Hoccleve's illuminations. This silent film presents an urgent climate-focused 'Chaucerian' dialogue between bird and fool's parsley.

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