Cross-fire

Natural Occurrence series
2010

Directed Geoffrey Mann
Produced Chris Labrooy
Commissioned by Past, Present & Future Craft Practice

Audio sample American Beauty

The focus of Cross-fire was to examine the intangible characteristic of the spoken word and investigate the unseen affect of sound upon its inhabited environment.

The project centralizes around the context of a domestic argument. In this case the event samples an audio excerpt from the 1999 Sam Mendes Film ‘American Beauty’. The slow building dialogue between the three central characters family dinner climaxes with a sound clash of emotions. The cross-fire of the argument traverses the dinning table but where previously the inanimate everyday objects such as plates, cutlery, teapot etc were unable to express their character, the intensity of the conversation deforms their once static existence into objects of unseen familiarity.

The presented sound artifacts each encapsulate a momentary emotion of the argument.

Additional Information

The Future Craft Exposition is the result of a five year research project, Past, Present & Future Craft Practice (PPFCP), based at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design at University of Dundee. The project explores new directions, practices and perspectives in contemporary craft with an ultimate goal of defining a new relevance for craft in the 21st century.

This project would not have been possible without the belief & patience of the following people and companies Chris Labrooy, Jochen Holz, Stuart Johnstone, DMC Bartlett,The Arches Bodyshop, PPFCP, 3DDC Ltd and Rapid3D. Thank-you.

Photography © Stuart Johnstone

Cross-fire teapot
Natural Occurrence series
Rapid Prototype Z-corp, car paint
2010