Of the Iron Range
Mentor 1
Steve Wetzel
Location
Union Theater
Start Date
24-4-2015 9:20 AM
Description
Of the Iron Range is a single-channel video documenting a cultural event in the small Midwestern town of Cuyuna, Minnesota, an area that once held the nation’s supply of iron ore. Each year, people from across the region gather as hundreds of wood ticks are collected and raced. I joined this project during the post-production stage, meaning most of the material had already been recorded. Documenting the idiosyncratic moments of human culture has been an ongoing pursuit of the faculty member I was working with, and although I was familiar with the technical and formal aspects of this style of filmmaking, the conceptual and methodological features and the subject matter itself were all novel to me. The methods of this research project were informed by and grounded in the history and practice of observational documentary, a style of documentary that gathers materials and forms questions and arguments about the world through a distanced looking. This form of inquiry is of course part of the history of the sciences, and remains foundational to many art forms. Our most significant observations were made while looking at the raw, recorded video material. We witnessed a complete transformation of a site, and learned how geography can become animated through a collective gathering of people. The participants of this social engagement revived and breathed life back into an abandoned space and a forgotten history. Wherever you find humans, you’ll find interesting and peculiar creations of shared culture. Within these social events, there is much at stake that transcends everyday life. We know that it is human nature to create reasons for coming together and spending time in close proximity of one another. It’s our job as the artist to take the known, shape it into something that’s engaging and new and then present it.
Of the Iron Range
Union Theater
Of the Iron Range is a single-channel video documenting a cultural event in the small Midwestern town of Cuyuna, Minnesota, an area that once held the nation’s supply of iron ore. Each year, people from across the region gather as hundreds of wood ticks are collected and raced. I joined this project during the post-production stage, meaning most of the material had already been recorded. Documenting the idiosyncratic moments of human culture has been an ongoing pursuit of the faculty member I was working with, and although I was familiar with the technical and formal aspects of this style of filmmaking, the conceptual and methodological features and the subject matter itself were all novel to me. The methods of this research project were informed by and grounded in the history and practice of observational documentary, a style of documentary that gathers materials and forms questions and arguments about the world through a distanced looking. This form of inquiry is of course part of the history of the sciences, and remains foundational to many art forms. Our most significant observations were made while looking at the raw, recorded video material. We witnessed a complete transformation of a site, and learned how geography can become animated through a collective gathering of people. The participants of this social engagement revived and breathed life back into an abandoned space and a forgotten history. Wherever you find humans, you’ll find interesting and peculiar creations of shared culture. Within these social events, there is much at stake that transcends everyday life. We know that it is human nature to create reasons for coming together and spending time in close proximity of one another. It’s our job as the artist to take the known, shape it into something that’s engaging and new and then present it.
