The Highwater Trilogy

During a cyclone, small men in raingear bravely plod down a boardwalk. The decay of the footage contributes to the story about man's transience and vulnerability: the viewer can barely distinguish the splashing sea and the electrostatic grains in the footage from each other. Floating icebergs filmed from a boat have the beauty of Brancusi sculptures. White film spatters conquer the polar night with cinematic snow. The footage of a flooded town where people row around or try to dry off their doorsteps seems mouldy. Thus, newsreel images from the 1920s produce a crystal clear sketch of the relationship between man and nature. In all three parts, the water advances and man can only manage with what he has. Nature can exist without him. The film is a lesson in humility, a meditation on the countless shades of silver nitrate. Featuring music by David Lang and Michael Gordon, and a libretto by Deborah Artman.