TREES ARE DOWN (2008)
Andrew Rosinski, 4 min, found footage, 2008
Synopsis: A feverish montage-meditation on the national identity of American Citizens, the culture and trends of American consumerism, the relationship of man to machine, and the abstract relation of machine + wilderness. Americans define their individuality and lifestyle through their consumerism; corporations create sub-cultures, niches, and they market and sell this lifestyle, sending the consumer concealed messages that we need to buy the best to be the best.
Supplementary Notes: Taking a bathroom break from chopping wood out at my cabin, I discovered a number of VHS tapes buried inside a chest.
The catalyst of this project was during the Summer of 2008 when I visited the family cabin to help my father chop wood and haul brush. Later on, I was digging through a bin of antiquated VHS tapes — I soon stumbled upon a handful of snowmobile, ATV, and chain-saw instructional videos. I immediately knew that I wanted to cut up and mash these materials into a short, 4-6 minute film. I also wanted to experiment with faux branding (e.g. the Ginga, Dinca, Chooga, and Targis logos featured in the film).
However, as I reviewed the footage, I realised that the material was far more mundane than I initially had expected. I knew what I wanted to create: An ugly — and embellished — trash bag filled with American video trash-timber porn. After multiple screenings, I began cutting, and after multiple edits, the film was completed.
With heavy image manipulation, experiments in frame size, deconstruction, and juxtaposition, Trees seeks to explore trends in consumerism — e.g. the thought processes of the deliberating potential consumer, their weighing thoughts, how they come to make the big purchase.
March 8th, 2010 at 11:31 am
ok, now where do i buy a shirt…
March 8th, 2010 at 11:47 am
I was anonymously sent one of these ‘trees are down’ t-shirts in the mail. Google searching lead me to this green site.
And what does ‘DINCA’ stand for? Is it an acronym?