The week before I was due back to start my final year of the course, I was lucky enough to be chosen to go on a week long residency in the rather remote holiday town of Nida, Lithuania. I was aware that the the week was going to be focused on photographic and video based work (something that I know very little about).
Taking part, were myself and five other students from UCS (where I study) and twelve Lithuanian students, from two different universities. When we arrived, we were split into mixed gender/nationality/university groups. The number of students didn’t divide equally, so I ended up in the smallest group, in which there were three of us. I generally find the thought of being thrown into group situations like this horrific at best, only this time I had the added bonus of not speaking the same language as the other group members. The group consisted of myself, and two Lithuanian students, a guy named Arnas and a girl named Aurelija. It soon became apparent (and much to my relief) that they both spoke excellent English. This made life so much easier for me, but more difficult for them, as it meant that they felt obliged to speak English in front of me, so I knew what was going on. I came to learn that Arnas is a talented video artist and commercial photographer. Aurelija is studying graphic design, she also draws and writes poetry.
After our awkward introductions, we were briefed that each group would have to produce a video based on our surroundings and along the themes of ‘Baltic signs’ or ‘time’, then present it to everyone by the end of the week. Luckily for me, Aurelija and Arnas were very ‘techy’ and knew exactly what they were doing in this department. Myself on the other hand, wasn’t quite sure what I’d be able to bring to the table. I draw and paint, which at first didn’t seem like it was going to be of much use to anyone for this exercise. We were all then advised to go off in our groups and explore our new surroundings for inspiration.
The next morning I met with my group and we went for our inspirational walk. We didn’t get far before finding a bar and restaurant and over a breakfast of ‘meat soup’ and beer, we came up with some ideas for the video. I made it clear that I had little to no skills in the video or photography department, but for what it’s worth, I would be more than happy to draw something. It was then that we all decided to combine the strongest elements of what each of us do, to make the video. The idea of the video would be to show the passing of time. We decided that the video would be a combination of mine and Aurelija’s drawings animated over the top of Arnas’s photographs, accompanied by the text from a specially written poem from Aurelija. Although initially I was dreading the idea of the collaboration, I actually felt OK about it, when I knew that I actually had a purpose within the group. I learnt from discussions with the other British students, that there were some disagreements and communication problems within the other groups. This made me feel extra grateful, as we all got on really well in my group and had quite a laugh during the week.
When the time came to actually start making the work, I made four A4 charcoal drawings, from photographs taken by Arnas. These drawings were all animated in the final video. I also made a larger drawing of a lighthouse, that was situated on a (very steep) hill, not far from our accommodation. It may be worth mentioning now, that landscapes are not my usual choice of subject matter. I did however, see the collaboration as an oppurtunity to push myself in a slightly different direction and actually enjoyed the process.
On the final night, all groups gathered in the communal dining/lecture area, to view the videos. Ours seemed to be recieved well. It was great to see all of the elements that we’d each contributed, put together in the final and very polished (thanks to Arnas) video.
