Faithfull, Simon
'30 Km' is a record of the journey of a small weather balloon as it ascends to the margins of space. The work oscillates between a spirit of empirical field-test enquiry and moments of lyrical, ethereal poetry. As seen from a camera attached to the balloon, the ground beneath us falls abruptly away; the figure of the artist, carefully cradling the apparatus as he prepares it for take-off, reduced, within seconds, to a tiny, unrecognizable dot. Rising ever upward, in almost-total silence, broken only by the plaintive bleep of the onboard transmitter straining to locate its earthbound receiver, the balloon's camera-eye takes in a gradually widening panorama, in which the landmark features of the south coast of England stand out, in sharp relief, against the dream-like blue-green blur.
Film and Video Umbrella
- Artwork Details: running time: 32 minutes
- Edition: 1 of 3 (+1 artist's master at Film & Video Umbrella)
- Material description: video transferred to DVD
- Credit line: © the artist. Commissioned by the Film and Video Umbrella in collaboration with Now Festival. Supported by Arts Council England.
- Theme:
- Medium: Film and Audio Visual
- Accession number: ACC28/2004