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Anne Ferran Artist File
by Prudence McComish
(Status : Public)
Coordinated by Prudence McComish's Group
  • Swansong (Tchaikovsky remix), 2013

    Courtesy of the artist represented by Sutton Gallery, Victoria.

  • Details

    Title: Swansong (Tchaikovsky remix) video still

    Date of production: 2013

  • Medium

    single-channel high definition video

  • Other Information

    Technique: single-channel high definition video,

    Edition: 1/5

    Duration: 00:04:10

    Credit line: Collection of The University of Queensland, purchased 2013.

    Accession no: 2013.64.02

    Copyright line: Reproduced courtesy of the artist represented by Sutton Gallery, Victoria

  • Descriptive Text

    Anne Ferran’s artwork deals with time and the symbolic reference to its affecting change. Her photographic medium captures the presence of a subject that is somewhat absent from historical memory. This practice is appropriating the documentation to acknowledging and remembering those forgotten histories (McSpeddin, 2010). Her photo series and video works are thought provoking and force the spectator to engage with the contextual appropriation she presents. Ferran’s video piece, Swansong (Tchaikovsky remix) is an extension of her exploration of the waterways of London in particular the work Body of Water (2011) after her residency there in 2005. (Ferran, 2014)

    Swansong (Tchaikovsky remix) is 4 minutes and 10 seconds in duration and presents a model swan in the river south of Sydney with a soundtrack by Chris Abrahams. Ferran’s intent for this artwork was to address the issues of urban expansion. The indexical quality of the camera with the sensorial resonance of music and movement absorbs the viewer into the work. These effects are used by Ferran to develop a space that evokes a tailored understanding of the relationships with the man made and natural environment. Her video medium allows for an exploration of a contextualized idea analysing the nature and culture median.

    The Tchaikovsky remix is reminiscent of classical ballet and theatrical performance. The white swan is symbolic of this performance embodying beauty and grace. The video captures this theatricality by presenting short excerpts of film which transition between the swans’ graceful dance and the waters dance. This repetitious conversion between swan and water is ongoing and submerges the viewer into a hypnotic trance where their thoughts dance as well.

    The swan is shown moving across the water and becomes a focal point in the landscape. The viewers’ distance from the swan misguides its true form of being man made but is revealed in close up shots as the natural light reflects its wooden and angled construction. The river itself is an illusion, as it is so close to suburban development but presented by Ferran as if it is a tranquil secluded sanctuary. These purposefully engineered subjects create a new-shared space that in its edited composition guides spectators to reflect on the natural and cultural relationships.

    Watching the unknown journey of the swan makes the experience suspenseful and eerie. The ghostly overlapping of film within this montage adds to this ambiguity of purpose and meaning and creates an illusionary atmosphere that is so common with Ferran’s restrained and graceful aesthetic.

    Through her judicious merging of the objective and the poetic, Ferran creates an ambiguous space relying heavily on the spectators’ interpretation of the relationship between the natural and the cultural.

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