THOREAU

a video by Denis Lessard, 2008

About a mile below the island, when the solitude seemed to be growing more complete every moment, we suddenly saw the light and heard the crackling of fire on the bank, and discovered the camp of the two explorers…

Two men are walking along a rocky shore, surrounded by a sublime alpine landscape. A voice over reads an excerpt from writer Henry David Thoreau, first in the English original, then in French translation. The images culled from reality do not illustrate the literary excerpt in a systematic way; rather, they suggest shifts in the meaning, thus enriching the work's dialectic.

This work is about languages, translation, accents—Thoreau himself was of French descent—, fantasies about ideal nature, the myth of the West, simple life, male camaraderie and the paradox of solitude together.

This video was produced in the context of the Walking and Art residency in visual arts held at the Banff Centre, from September to November 2007.

Total Duration :  8 minutes 36 secondes
colour video, sound
guest appearance by Matthew Walker