Artist
Ace McColl

Project Title
Spines Are Stronger Than Teeth

Grant Amount
$1,000

Website
www.acemccoll.com

Project Description

Spines Are Stronger Than Teeth will be an experimental/documentary short film, that takes an intimate look at mother/daughter relationships. The film will feature up to twenty women, ten pairs of mothers and daughters, filmed individually but juxtaposed side by side, their backs silhouetted, their vertebrae visible. The pairs will be led through guided writing and conversation, their stories creating the backbone and soundscape of the film. Shot on black and white Super 8mm, and hand processed with coffee using a caffenol developing technique, the negatives will then be dunked in red wine- giving the film grain a rich and dreamy appearance.  Our spines shape our being, our stance, and our presentation to the world. They carry our lineage and our limbs, forming an intricate puzzle of strength and ancestry.  What will the audience infer from the visual similarities and differences between backs? How will the landscape of voices reinforce or reshape those assumptions? How do we relate to women's bodies and stories on screen when they face away from us- the audience peeks into something intensely raw and personal while remaining simultaneously removed.