on the collinear and reflected on the water
Rei Hayama, 4mins, 2018
Hayama recounts a strangely intimate encounter with an emu against the tremulous backdrop of projected and re-photographed film footage showing the aforementioned bird behind bars at the zoo. As Hayama filmed the emu, she noticed a tear dropping from the corner of its eye and was inspired to make this film. Even if this teardrop represented nothing more than physiological function designed to remove dust from the emu’s eye, it somehow fascinates the human mind. We see our reflection in the eyes of this non-human creature, and at some point, we begin to think about tears, the power of human empathy, and human existence.
Rei Hayama
Rei Hayama / 葉山 嶺 is an artist, born and based in Kanagawa, Japan. She has been deeply involved in natural environmental issues and wildlife rehabilitation and rescue activities through the unique environment of her youth. Rei has been working with analog film, video and the situations of humans "seeing" nature and wildlife.' She confronts her own ambivalent feelings about the human species, and gently seeks the harmonious connection between nature and human beings, bringing forward the invisible layers of our natural reality into the human imagination.
