Sentinel - Orbit
Orbit, Cat Wilson, 2021, Video still
single-channel video 07:17
video by Cat Wilson
sound by Jamie Saxe
Narooma Nights, Gallery Narooma, 2021
Finalist, Northern Beaches Environmental Art and Design Prize, 2021
ORBIT is a meditation on the relationship between the built and natural environments, following two trees for a year. The first, a living apple tree, shifting and changing; the second a telegraph pole, constant and fixed. The year-long time-lapse is cropped, and the image is mirrored, abstracting the trees and removing their locational context.
Fragments of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, time-stretched so that the original music is no longer recognisable, form the foundation of the soundscape. This ambient score retains the harmonic shifts of Vivaldi’s original piece, reflecting the changing seasons it underscores.
Orbit, Installation view, Northern Beaches Environmental Art & Design Prize, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, 2021
Orbit, installation view, Narooma Nights, Narooma Gallery, 2021
About the Sentinel Project
I wanted to see what would be revealed if I paid close attention to this small overlooked corner of my neighbourhood, so, set myself the task of observing it closely over the course of a year. Every week in 2009 - 2010 I photographed the tree at the same time of day and once for each of the four seasons, I made a time-lapse over 24 hours. This exercise opened up considerations of bigger universal experiences, such as the movement of the planet around the sun, and questions about the nature of time.
Project Blog
During the year of shooting, my regular presence drew attention to the beautiful tree and the unrealised potential of this vacant lot.
I kept this weekly blog during the making the work of the work and beyond that reflects both my experience and these exciting changes.
