BY JACQUELINE CARPENTIER
The film was for a course that focused on exploring different methods and materials in making art. The final assignment was to use either miniatures or monuments and to express change over time in a non-realistic and/or nonlinear fashion. I was really intrigued by the concept of having something growing and melting -- of having the process itself speak directly to the question of existence I have always been so fascinated by. This idea quickly and naturally morphed into the concept of using a representation of a human hand, for what better to bring the question of human existence closer to the viewer's own humanity? The organic nature of the material, butter, brought this relationship even closer. Fat as a substance is considered so unimportant, when in reality all of us must have some in order to survive. A small amount of fat taking form into a hand speaks to a clump of cells taking form into a human. Without that clump of cells there would be nothing: nothing then and nothing now. But the presence of those cells, their growth, their developing cannot be labeled as nothing. My hope is that this piece provokes questioning and thought about the beginning stages of life and their significance.
The film can be found at http://vimeo.com/22974749.
Jacqueline Carpentier is a student at the University of Rochester, and a member of University of Rochester Students for Life.