the archive is on fire

“the archive is on fire” is a film that explores the relationship between memory and the rituals with which we engage to ensure its longevity. Concrete objects and spaces of remembrance—the archive—are poised against the ephemeral. The text and images thread together, as if a sense memory of the archive itself. The sun magically settles between the crevice of two trees; the warp and weft of the forest turns into a macro lens that obsessively documents the ridges that appear on a butterfly wing; a magnifying glass searches in the negative space of loss and absence; fire flickers through glass and water, and then spills about untethered; and finally fire consumes the frame within the frame. The film is structured to invite the viewer to reflect upon their own relationship to memory and the archive.

16mm transfer, 4K video, 2K, stereo sound,
Single channel, 9 min 47 sec, 2023
Two-channel, 7 min 41 sec, 2023

Screenings: 
Ibrida Festival, Forlí, Italy, September 2024
Chicago Underground Film Festival, Chicago, IL, September 2024
SF Cinemateque Crossroads Film Festival, San Francisco, CA September 2024
Cosmic Rays Film Festival, Chapel Hill, NC, March 2024
Ruffin Gallery, Charlottesville, VA February-March 2023