the uncommon

HD video, 3 channels, 2017

Adam Fung’s three channel film, the uncommon, places the viewer in a stark, unpopulated Arctic landscape. The film was shot on location, in the Arctic during the 2016 Arctic Circle Artist Residency program and supported by a Texas Christian University Research and Creative Activities Fund award. Filmed using an aerial drone and submersible cameras the dramatic perspectives are constantly shifting as we are immersed in a space that suggestions ongoing transitions. The visuals are layered with a narration that suggests a conversation with the expansive space, an acknowledgment of the elemental forces at work, and an eventual recognition of the construct of human vs. nature.

The uncommon raises the following questions as we move firmly into the Anthropocene: do we recognize the implications of our impact on the planet, can we save ourselves from the outcomes, do we abandon hope (start over on new planets), realize that climate change will continue without our well-being in mind, and ultimately see past the human/nature divide that is essential to find a more sensitive way forward? These are global questions, in an increasingly fractured moment, requiring a paradigm shift. Fung’s film, with its discordant, ominous score, leaves us unsure of the possibilities.

The film's narration is compiled from a performance piece titled "things we say to the Arctic" where Fung requested text, poetry, phrases, and questions to speak to the landscape. In addition to composing the narration from these texts Fung used his own journals from the trip and responses to film footage post-trip.

Credits:

Adam Fung director + video/photography

Neil Anderson-Himmelspach score + composition

Alex Martin editor + producer

Jenna Wright narration + voice

Nick Bontrager technical consultant

All footage recorded for the uncommon was captured in Svalbard including the Arctic pack ice at 81°08,3563 ́N, 016° 10.3649 ́Eas part of Adam Fung’s participation in the 2016 summer solstice Arctic Circle Artist Residency and Expedition

Special thanks to:

Aaron T. O’Connor, The Arctic Circle director

Sarah Gerats, expedition leader

Kristin Jæger Wexsahl, Marry Kristin Waal Sandstrå, Sally Hovelsø, arctic guides

Maarten van der Duijn Schouten, captain of the Antigua

Moritz Pommeshausen, first mate

Crew of the Antigua

Gregory Locke, chief drone catcher (on land and in zodiac)

Kate Schutt, musical inspiration

TCU School of Art

Stamper the Drone

things we say to the Arctic contributors:

Sonja Bendel

Amy Henny Brown

Steve Carrelli

David Colon

Lindsey Dunnagan

Anna Guillory

Krista Hoefle

Fritz Horstman

Dick Lane

Brittany Ransom

Amy Talluto

Ron Wild

Anonymous