Trees
by Kersti Jan Werdal from Los Angeles, CA
On the onset of the COVID-19 stay at home orders in the US, I began a steady correspondence with an old friend who lives in Barcelona. At that point he had already been ordered to stay indoors for a few weeks. His home is a small but sweet and loving top floor apartment, just below a roof of the same dimension.
Each day he walked in 700 circles (or 10km) for two hours, to keep his feelings regulated best he could, and so his muscles would not depreciate. I urged him to buy a jump-rope, but because he is considerate to his neighbors, he stayed loyal to his dizzying routine.
In Spain at that time and for many weeks after, he was only allowed to leave the apartment to purchase food at the grocery store. As he is an avid outdoorsy person who lives for nature, I felt immense empathy for him. So, I made this film in his honor to remind him that nature is right outside waiting.
I used DV and HD footage from my archives, along with appropriated images from a Champion Tree lecture I gave at CalArts to a James Benning class. I created the soundscape with found sounds, along with a 1973 UPenn excerpt of Joe Brainard reading from I Remember.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
I am a filmmaker and photographer born in Seattle, WA presently based in Los Angeles. I hold a BA in Sociocultural Anthropology from Columbia University and an MFA in Film/Video from CalArts. I work with film&video, archival materials, and large-scale installation. Presently I'm in post-production on my first feature narrative film called Lake Forest Park.
