Time Is A River

Multi-Channel Video
5 minutes 45 seconds
2019

Two women thrash in a boundless ocean of milk before being lifted to the surface—a birth and a baptism.

Time is a river features two black women performers as they move wildly in a pool of milk. They are accompanied by a driving audio score which layers the sound. The milk splashes around them, at times threatening to engulf the women. The violence of their dramatic movements, however, is complicated by the slow motion capture of the camera. In slow motion, what might otherwise look like drowning becomes sensual, the sloshing of the milky water is transmuted—at times appearing smoke-like and seductively curling around the faces and limbs of the performers. As tension rises, the wild thrashing movement gives way as one performer lifts the other, heaving her from the grasp of the milky water and bringing her to the surface. Milk is ritualistically and tenderly poured over one of the women’s heads, pausing and resetting the motion of the piece before the cycle begins again.

Time is a river is the third piece in the HUNGER video cycle. It is preceded by This Eternal Thread.

Director, Editor, Sound
Corinne Spencer

Camera
Sarah Friedland

Performers
Brittany Henry
Idalis Rideout

Special Thanks
BAAD! Bronx Academy of Art and Dance
Meerkat Media Collective