Pillar of Fire - trailer
About
2021 “Pillar of Fire” uses its biblical reference as a secular metaphor for catastrophic climate change. The video is a montage of landscapes, ranging from an abandoned mesa top pueblo to the cold war era “iron cross” Corona Satellite Calibration Target ruins in Arizona. Deer, including the extinct Père David's deer*, walk, jump and run through these landscapes while leaping into a black void. Finally, the New Zealand “Bridge to Nowhere” animation clip, floating in this empty void, segues into an archetypal New Zealand Forest landscape. A trip that I took to the Southwest US in 2021 brought home the urgency of action necessary to tackle this impending proto-apocalyptic challenge. We were surrounded by near and distant wild fires in a year of endemic climate anomalies, only to soon return to the apparent tranquillity of New Zealand. This video is a digital collage consisting of 3D drone scans, digital animations, green screens, alpha channels and 4k footage. Green screen deer, audio and licensed music are sourced from Pond5 and Shutterstock. Stop motion wildfire clips courtesy of Arnav Kainthola.