IT WORKS BOTH WAYS
Louisa Makolski (known to me as Wiz) and I worked together for two years making films and pinhole photographs. Louisa had cerebral palsy and could not speak verbally. Louisa said, (using a word board and eye movement to communicate) she said ‘this project gave me hope and an imaginative mind.’ She wanted to ‘show and tell people what I think and feel’.
This 23 minute film is a compilation of much of the work we did together. Louisa died in 2010 yet her voice remains part of an ongoing conversation about art, communication and love. She said, ‘when I am by water I feel love. How can we do that in film? I said I didn’t know but we could give it a try.
waves will come
again
and again
like a mother
rocking
a baby
in her buggy
the sea
crashing
on the shore
takes me away
from
my body
Working with Wiz changed my life and my art practice. I learnt to listen. I learnt that it is not always possible nor advantageous to retain control.
Colour and Black and White / moving image and stills / abled and disabled / young and old. It worked. Both ways.
Screenings : London Short Film Festival, Abandon Normal Devices at FACT Liverpool, Cambridge Film Festival and others.
Kindly supported by City Eye.