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Ripe Still, 2014

Ripe Gambol, 2014

 

Digital film installations
Courtesy of the artist and Jack Hanley Gallery, New York

Composer and Instrumentalist: David Ralicke
Producer and Editor: Judy Lyness
Cameraman: David Kaplan
Production Assistants: Pall Haukur and Grace Joetama

The artist was inspired by the recent discovery that the genetic mutation manipulated to create uniformity of red in commercial tomatoes is the same gene that makes them palatable for humans—but is inversely correlated. As the fruit’s red intensifies, it becomes distasteful. Using a high-definition RED camera with extreme slow motion, these digital films capture images of commercial and heirloom tomatoes.

In Ripe Still, the camera zooms onto the surface of tomatoes at rest, catching light while murky human shadows pass. Composer David Ralicke layers thirty wind instruments, oscillating them between dissonance and harmony to create a seductive trance that draws the viewer into an abstraction of desirous color. In Ripe Gambol, luscious bodies bounce on a trampoline and intimacy sparks as inert fruit frolic, rock side-by-side, and tumble to a popping minimalist electronic score anchored by wandering sub bass accents.