Faculty of Art

Photography

Reilly Narod

desiderium

16mm black and white film, documented on Bolex

“Desiderium is an experimental short film that explores lingering human presences within abandoned domestic spaces. Inspired by Jacques Derrida’s concepts of hauntology, Desiderium encourages the idea that physical spaces often carry material and affective traces of the past. The title, drawn from a Latin noun associated with a profound sense of longing (especially in terms of loss or grief), positions the film as an observation of absence, presence and memory. While the complete histories of the residents of the building are unknowable, viewers are invited to mine through their own memories and experiences of nostalgia to project meaning onto the images within the film. This approach is bolstered by Olga Drenda’s interpretation of hauntolgy, which is dependent on the collision of personal memory and nostalgia to make associations within hauntological practices. Shot on black-and-white 16 mm film using a Bolex camera, the film focuses on close-up tracking images of found objects within the home, such as rusty soap dispensers, computer keyboards, and tiles. Following the film’s developing process, substances sourced from within the abandoned home in which this film was documented, such as Head & Shoulders shampoo and expired lemonade, were directly applied to the negatives. In essence, this material intervention intends to fold the traces of the residents and the site back into the image, allowing the echoes of the past to not only inhabit the physical space, but the images themselves. ”