Catalogue > At random

Ernst Karel, Pawel Wojtasik, Toby Lee

Single Stream

Documentaire | hdv | couleur | 23:18 | USA | 2014

SINGLE STREAM takes a close look at the problem of waste, through a visual and sonic exploration of a recycling facility. The title refers to the “single stream” method of recycling in which all types of recyclables are initially gathered together, and sorted later at a specialized facility. With SINGLE STREAM, viewers enter one of the largest of these materials recovery facilities in the US. Inside a cavernous building, a vast machine complex runs like clock-work, sorting a steady stream of glass, metal, paper and plastic carried on conveyor belts criss-crossing the space, dotted with workers in neon vests. The interwoven movements of human and machine produce sounds and images that are overwhelming, but also beautiful, and even revelatory. Blurring the line between observation and abstraction, SINGLE STREAM is a meditation on our society's culture of excess and its consequences.

Paweł Wojtasik (b. 1952, Łódź, Poland) creates poetic reflections on cultures and ecosystems in the form of short films and large-scale installations. His investigations into the overlooked corners of the environment have led him to pig farms, sewage treatment plants, wrecking yards and autopsy rooms. His work has shown in venues such as PS1/MoMA, Reina Sofia Museum, Berlinale and New York Film Festival. www.pawelwojtasik.com/ Toby Lee (b. 1980, Los Angeles) is an artist and scholar based in New York, working across video, installation, drawing and text. She holds a PhD in Anthropology and Film & Visual Studies from Harvard University, and she is Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Ernst Karel (b. 1970, Palo Alto) works between experimental nonfiction sound and electroacoustic music. He composes and performs with location recordings and/or analog electronics, often for multichannel environments. As a Lecturer on Anthropology at Harvard University, he teaches a production course in sonic ethnography. http://ek.klingt.org/