The video, photography and performance artist Janet Biggs discusses her work, including a recent project for which she scaled a not-quite-dormant volcano in Indonesia. She explains her attraction to remote sites and extreme filming conditions, and shows her video work, “Arctic Trilogy.” FADE TO WHITE (2012, 12 min.) deals with the unachievable desire of discovery. On an expedition in the high Arctic, Biggs films a crew member navigating through icebergs and integrates these images with video of counter tenor Tom Kelly, whose mournful operatic voice parallels the vanishing Arctic landscape. IN THE COLD EDGE (2012, 5 min.) looks at isolation and vulnerability, as Biggs’s subjects search for meaning at the end of the earth, crawling through terrifying ice caves. BRIGHTNESS ALL AROUND (2011, 8 min.) focuses on a woman coal miner and presents a vocal performance by New York music guru Bill Coleman as a counterpoint to the terror of the underground mines.

Arctic Trilogy: An Evening with Jane Biggs

2012 US 8 min
Festival Year: 2012
Types: Documentary, Short
Topic: Climate Change, Global Perspectives, Sustainable Living, Wildlife