Fern Silva
2021Concrete Parlay
Fern Silva
Carried by the frenetic energy of a magic carpet, Concrete Parlay is a metaphysical flight that weaves among visual kernels of the anthropic and biological worlds. From prehistoric horseshoe crabs strewn among modern refuse, stoic pyramids foregrounded by golf course maintenance, mystic rituals evoking avian gestures, to contemporary political upheaval equalized by natural phenomena—the poetic equivalence among images transcends particular umwelten, as the disorienting whirl of the compass connotes the kinetic nature of existence.-Aily Nash
Concrete Parlay
Scales in the Spectrum of Space
Fern Silva
A glimpse into the collective memory of the city of Chicago at the invitation of the Chicago Film Archive. In a very associative way, the experimental anthropologist and cineast Silva sampled a mini city symphony from 35 films, limiting himself purely to existing visual material. The soundtrack comes from Phil Cohran, known among other things for his work with Sun Ra.
Scales in the Spectrum of Space
Rock Bottom Riser
Fern Silva
Nainoa Thompson, Moses Goods
From the earliest voyagers who navigated by starlight to the discovery of habitable planets by astronomers, Rock Bottom Riser examines the all-encompassing encounters of an island world at sea. As lava continues to flow from the earth’s core on the island of Hawaii—posing an imminent danger—a crisis mounts. Astronomers plan to build the world’s largest telescope on Hawaii’s most sacred and revered mountain, Mauna Kea. Based on ancient Polynesian navigation, the arrival of Christian missionaries, and the observatory’s ability to capture the origins of the universe, Rock Bottom Riser surveys the influence of settler colonialism, the search for intelligent life, and the discovery of new worlds as we peer into our own planet’s existence.
Rock Bottom Riser
Passage Upon the Plume
Fern Silva
“Those who go thither, they return not again.” Plumes dust the arid land, east to west, shapeshifting as they lift in ascension. Something lowers. An ark ran aground where revolution took root: ropes raise stones in baskets. Hearts heavier and lighter than the feather, permitted passage. Tethered or freed, resting from life or dawning anew. (Charity Coleman)
Passage Upon the Plume
Peril of the Antilles
Fern Silva
Peril of the Antilles was filmed at the beginning of November 2010 while visiting a friend in Haiti. At this specific time, the cholera epidemic was on its way to Port-au-Prince, Hurricane Tomas was on the horizon, presidential elections were in a couple weeks and the first Gede (day of the dead) took place since the January quakes. Along the way I acquired a very curious copy of Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly’s (Haiti’s newest president and once bad boy of Compas) music video from his early 90’s heyday… shot in a familiar location… rajé gain´ zoreille…
Peril of the Antilles
In the Absence of Light, Darkness Prevails
Fern Silva
In the Absence of Light, Darkness Prevails suggests a future already arrived, merging the destruction with the creation of life as seen in the tiny turtles crawling their way to the sea, or heard in the crackling of a Geiger counter as a masked man sprays plants with pesticides.
In the Absence of Light, Darkness Prevails
Servants of Mercy
Fern Silva
Fern Silva’s Servants of Mercy (Portugal/USA, 2010, 14m), presents a variation on portrait film, subtly showing the redevelopment and changes of Portuguese landscape and society through the prism of his families old household helper, a remainder of Portugal’s older bourgeois traditions. Fernando Pessoa’s famous poem of exile “Oh Sea, how much of your salt is from the tears of Portugal” can be heard song on the soundtrack, reflecting the gulf between the past and the present and the countries unique place on the edge of Europe. -George Clark, APEngine
Servants of Mercy
Ride Like Lightning, Crash Like Thunder
Fern Silva
Ben Russell, Brigid McCaffrey
Through softly textured 16mm photography and regional iconography, Silva offers a modernist reflection on two of upstate New York’s most storied 19th century touchstones—the landscape painters of the Hudson River School and the legend of Rip Van Winkle—nodding to a few musical heroes along the way.
Ride Like Lightning, Crash Like Thunder
Spinners
Fern Silva
Shot in New Jersey, Spinners rolls it's way into decades of roller skating culture that's outlived fads from the recent past. Traveling from afar by foot and car, the Holiday Skating Center's Adult Night participants float to an organ playing tunes that have been stamped in our memory as staples of American pop culture.
Spinners
After Marks
Fern Silva
Soon after Mark LaPore died, I began having dreams of him, with him, in locations that often resembled the ones in his films, the ones he shot in India. When I spent late nights at MassArt working on my projects, I'd see and hear apparitions of him, trying to tell me something, trying to warn me about something. I travelled to the places I spent with him in my dreams. He was there with me until the end of the trip... I should have listened to him.
After Marks