'The Last Picture Show; diary of a Penguin Summer' - Youtube

                       

                                           Filmed on Pebble Island, Falkland Islands, 2019/20

I began taking short pieces of video midsummer, being a visual artist but without much thought for the outcome. Driving professional photographers and birdlife enthusiasts as well casual travelers around Pebble Island, on the Falkland Islands, I started to see things that put my normal practice into perspective, as well as life in general. The concept and title was something that came to me later, in January, seeing the complex struggle of the birds. It was about imagining the landscape without them, notably the Southern Rockhopper penguin, which is listed as vulnerable. If people see some sort of connection, to recent events, then that is purely coincidental but to be expected; The understanding of true art, nature and society - and posing real questions, regarding conservation - and life itself, are inseparable.

I apologize for the quality, but the intention is all that matters. To quote Ruskin: ‘Your art is to be the praise of something that you love. It may only be the praise of a shell or a stone.’

       

‘It will be universally admitted that instincts are as important as corporeal structure for the welfare of each species under its present conditions of life.’

Charles Darwin

                                  

photo courtesy of Flo and Robert. Thanks.