To Heal You, I Hardly Know What to Do
2023
2023
This installation of drawing and animation is inspired by a concrete situation I faced, of needing to discard a surplus of soil, accumulated as a result of practicing composting, within the limited space of a regular balcony in a block of flats. When I came to decide that I could not take it anywhere but to a forest, that was the moment when I was able to notice that the practical as well as moral implications, once considered, became overwhelming compared to the natural and direct relationship that we could have with a few lumps of fertile soil.
I decided to call my project "To Heal You, I Hardly Know What to Do". It is an expression I have been keeping written down for a long time, and now it seemed appropriate. It equates the physical action of emptying a bag that seems full of dark matter with the metaphor of eliminating negative emotions. I like the aspect that everything that is discontinuous and lacking sufficient structure, coming from the technique of animating with observational drawings, is explained, as if it were a confusion, by the obscure way in which I conduct myself, because I do not see a clear method to self-regulate.
The animation is obtained from successive sketches that I executed superimposed on the background representing the natural scene in which the action took place. To orient myself in reproducing the movement, I looked at stills from the film I recorded in the forest. After I finished photographing an instance, I deleted that sketch each time, completely or partially, depending on the rendering requirements of the next instance. The last frame in the animation is the drawing that I exhibit next to it. I see in this working method a way to search and find a specific image. The animation film documents the search process, which can always be accessed in parallel with the contemplation of the result. A reverse analysis, starting from the final drawing, reveals that it has a past, that it has a personal history, that something happened to it. And this implicates a future for the image as well, a complete personification that opens the work to a life of its own, beyond what I am able to do.
I decided to call my project "To Heal You, I Hardly Know What to Do". It is an expression I have been keeping written down for a long time, and now it seemed appropriate. It equates the physical action of emptying a bag that seems full of dark matter with the metaphor of eliminating negative emotions. I like the aspect that everything that is discontinuous and lacking sufficient structure, coming from the technique of animating with observational drawings, is explained, as if it were a confusion, by the obscure way in which I conduct myself, because I do not see a clear method to self-regulate.
The animation is obtained from successive sketches that I executed superimposed on the background representing the natural scene in which the action took place. To orient myself in reproducing the movement, I looked at stills from the film I recorded in the forest. After I finished photographing an instance, I deleted that sketch each time, completely or partially, depending on the rendering requirements of the next instance. The last frame in the animation is the drawing that I exhibit next to it. I see in this working method a way to search and find a specific image. The animation film documents the search process, which can always be accessed in parallel with the contemplation of the result. A reverse analysis, starting from the final drawing, reveals that it has a past, that it has a personal history, that something happened to it. And this implicates a future for the image as well, a complete personification that opens the work to a life of its own, beyond what I am able to do.
To Heal You, I Hardly Know What to Do, 2023, oil-based charcoal on toned canvas, 100 x 175 cm.
To Heal You, I Hardly Know What to Do,
47 frames animation made with charcoal and chalk, observational hand-drawn and erased on the same background,
13s, 3840x2160px, no audio, 2023
47 frames animation made with charcoal and chalk, observational hand-drawn and erased on the same background,
13s, 3840x2160px, no audio, 2023