Chris Natrop

Documenting one’s work is usually important to any artist, but accurately documenting installation- based art is crucial since each piece is usually considered temporary. Natrop’s photo- and video-documentation serve not only to objectively record the work, but also as a way to set-forth new branches of artworks. The short film “Dewdrop Redux” is a video documentary of Natrop’s previous installation “And Further the Dewdrop Falls.” Shot in 1080p high definition video, the film is a 24-minute looping vignette depicting the ambient experience of the work. Shot and edited entirely by Natrop, the film sees through the eye of the artist within obsessive observation of his work. For Natrop, these subsequent, spin-off artworks, such as “Dewdrop Redux,” serve as a way to maintain the thread of an original idea that reflects upon the previous while begetting the new. The film’s reality, expressed through the artist-specific viewpoint, becomes more of an indulgent abstraction then objective truth. Static camera shots and extreme close-ups allow the nuances of atmosphere to slowly progress unhindered. The film’s non-existent story-arc, lack of rapid-fire editing and absence of any figure-ground relationships, challenges the viewer’s usual anticipation for filmic work. Time is a concept that Natrop intentionally tries to slow-down or elongate: the transitions between the unexpectedly lengthy scenes are so subtle as to hardly be noticed, allowing the film to recede into pure texture and atmosphere. Despite its slowed-down pace, the viewer’s patience, however, is retained through the ongoing sumptuousness of the visuals. The intention with the film is to give a settling experience, one where the usual harried cadence of time is slowed to the point where the memory of past and the expectation of future gives way to observing the present moment.

In “Dewdrop Redux,” Natrop also pays homage to noted ambient musician and music theorist, Brian Eno by utilizing an excerpt from his 1993 musical work, “Neroli” as the seed to this film’s sound track. Having been highly reprocessed, there is little semblance to Eno’s original recording except for, perhaps, its rhythm.

I wanted to make a kind of music that existed on the cusp between melody and texture, and whose musical logic was elusive enough to reward attention, but not so strict as to demand it. (excerpt from Neroli liner notes)
—Brian Eno, musician and theorist

For the artist, “Dewdrop Redux” is also tinged with personal longing as the original footage for the film as been permanently lost. Unfortunately, during the editing process, the artist’s home was burglarized and all of the computer equipment containing the source footage was stolen. Luckily one edited version was found. That single, “flattened” copy forms the basis for the film’s final iteration. Also lost is most of his high-resolution documentation from previous art projects. Because of the internet-based proliferation of imagery, much of his photography formatted for web- and email-use has been retrieved, but most higher-quality, print-ready images are forever gone.