Destuffing Matrix
4 channel HDV, 8 minutes
Destuffing Matrix
2012
(Its not so much that all that is solid melts into air, but rather that there are boxes within boxes… )
Ports and cities have been shy of each other throughout the latter half of the 20th century. Suddenly they make a joint appearance, new container terminal facing the waterfront, sharing their most visible parts. Meanwhile thousands of other pieces of the port - goods, workers, customs seals, excel sheets- are scattered across a "hinterland", connected by bridge and wire, and surrounded by fences.
What could be an image of this fractured landscape? The closest available rendering is the "transparent port" (or Indias first e-port, as the website of Cochin port trust proclaims). A port that, like its physical twin, makes things appear in proper columns, and counts rows of containers stuffed, bills paid, and ships expected or berthing.
Boxes resist images, but also offer an invitation to the curious. Our work here, filmed in container processing terminals far inland, where port labour has also moved, claims that images are still possible, and asks if just rearranging them a certain way could change the tenor of this geography.
First produced for the Kochi Muziris Biennale, 2012.
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