Single-channel film / 6-channel sound/video installation
"Fall Line" is an experimental film by multidisciplinary artist Sara Bouchard, originally presented as a 6-channel video/sound installation. Inspired by Richmond’s location at the fall line of the James River, the work investigates the unique geography and ecology of the area through a highly personal approach incorporating song, language, observation and locational listening.
The fall line is the geological marker found where the hard bedrock of a piedmont region meets the soft, sedimentary coastal plain and creates rapids and waterfalls. Richmond’s location on the fall line of the James has made it a strategic hub for industry and transport. From an ecological perspective, this stretch of the James offers the unusual combination of being both tidal and freshwater.
Since moving to Richmond in 2017, Bouchard has spent countless hours walking the James River Park System, collecting video, audio recordings, photography, text, drawings and natural ephemera. In "Fall Line," Bouchard weaves these elements into a nonlinear narrative which takes on the form and movement of the river itself. "Fall Line" is an invitation to immerse oneself in the language of the river, the practice of deep listening, and the landscape of one’s own interior thoughts.
Written and directed by Sara Bouchard
With original sound & music and animations by Sara Bouchard
(c) 2020 Sara Bouchard