Born Winged Animals and Honey Gatherers of the Soul

'Born Winged Animals and Honey Gatherers of the Soul' is a 16 mm Film Installation which takes as its point of departure a symbol used by Friedrich Nietzsche in the Genealogy of Morality (1887). Nietzsche uses the image of 12 bells tolling at noon to symbolize Modern Man’s separation from his own existence. This film is a visual and phonetic translation of an excerpt from Nietzsche’s prologue. In this text he argues that humans have never been able to find out who they really are and even in the attempt to do so they inevitably lose themselves – a philosophical notion echoed in the film.

The piece consists of 30 half-minute films made over the period of a month which coincide with the 12 bell tolls at midday. These films were made in the geographical area around St. Anne’s church in Limehouse, and record elements of the architecture and events around that site.

The installation expands on Nietzsche’s original symbol, taking it as a starting point in order to investigate aspects of contemporary existence. Film, with its materiality, constriction and time limitation mirrors the lapidary nature of the symbolic or exemplary, contrasting with the lightness and detail of that which is depicted. This is a method by which to highlight the discrepancy between ideas and actuality without being illustrative.
The installation questions the way in which materialist film might relate to a wider interest in linguistics and sensory symbolism. The opaque nature of the filmic frame is compared to the resilience of the example, symbol or metaphor in language structure.