In the framework of a partnership between Edinburgh University and IUCN Urban Alliance, students of Edinburgh College of Art have created a series of experimental short films exploring the theme of ecological urbanism. The trailer and synopsis of one of the films are outlined below. The full-length films will be screened at the Urban Planet Pavilion during the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille, France, in September 2021.
Logline
The edge between man-made area and natural area seem clear and stable; however, the green area keeps retrieving because of the invasion and consumption of human.
Sypnosis
What is happening with environmental loss today is not the consequence of any rapid or impulsive actions. It is an outcome of a series of slow violence, which happens every day, everywhere, quietly but toxically. In our perspective, human and plants share the cities happily, but does it tell the whole story? Whilst we benefit from the convenience of modern lifestyle, the green area is being invaded, and some of the green is living on the edge of the cities. The cross-cutting of the gradual expansion of the city of Edinburgh and the green living on the edge of the city allow the audience to see what has happened and what is happening to other inhabitants of our city.
Statement by the Team
By slow violence I mean a violence that occurs gradually and out of sight, a violence of delayed destruction that is dispersed across time and space, an attritional violence that is typically not viewed as violence at all.
Rob Nixon
In an age where the media venerates the spectacular, where the public follows the perceived issues and where the government primarily responds to the immediate needs, what can we do as artists to bring the quiet, slow moving disasters into the worlds’ eyes?
Slow violence increases over time by inaction and delay, and it is the delay we are focusing on, rather than physical consequences. What causes the inaction and delay is the unconcern of the public. The convenience of urban life has resulted in environmental loss. We are surrounded by information about catastrophes, but we rarely take it seriously and think that it is irrelevant to us. We take this film as an opportunity to show how human and plants are entangled together in the city from different perspectives and scales. With the film we hope the audience to become aware that our modern life is contributing to the environmental loss without being noticed.
Filmmaker Bios
Pin-Erh Chen // Producer, Set Designer, Editor
Pin is an interdisciplinary artist from Taipei, the crowded, clamorous capital of Taiwan. Her practice responds to the violence of delayed destruction and focuses on issues related to environmental crisis and social movements in everyday lives. The concept behind her work is conveyed to public mainly through language and textile art.
With background in arhcitecture, Pin achieved MFA in ‘Art, Space & Nature’ at Edinburgh College of Art.
Se Jin Park // Cinematographer, Editor
Se Jin is a filmmaker currently based in Edinburgh. Growing up as a third culture kid has made her become interested in the topic of being the stranger, but she is still experimenting with different themes and styles of filmmaking. Her major interest lies in the stories like fairy tales. Se Jin is studying Film and Television (BA) at the University of Edinburgh.
Gina Loughlin // Music Composer
Gina Loughlin is a composer for film and video games currently based in Edinburgh. Her formal education has granted her opportunities to experiment with a variety of musical genres and sound palettes, from contemporary to electronic to orchestral, and find her own musical voice within these. She is now working towards her MSc in Composition for the Screen at the University of Edinburgh.
Reference
Nixon R (2011) Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.