Going to the Mountain

Going to the Mountain consists of three formal studies of pre-verbal babies. Through its unlikely protagonists, the video considers how the pre-verbal child might represent a site of embodied knowledge. Using slow motion camera, mirrored surfaces and rhythmic editing, the video attempts to depict the complexities of their gesture, rhythm and movement through a process of defamiliarization. Going to the Mountain is an acute, unsentimental portrait of Nico, Grace and Maya, with a score developed in collaboration with Andrew Fogarty, featuring improvised percussion by David Lacey made in response to audio recordings of a 7 month old child as well as newly commissioned soft sculptures by artist Barbara Knezevic.