'Setting myself up to fall' - 2012

 Watch the film first before reading below- make up your own interpretation.





This film is about fad dieting on the surface, but looking closer it becomes about sabotaging the good thing in your life.

The liquid in the glass is cranberry juice, and in the silver tin is sugar. I put 10 teaspoons of sugar in the glass, stirred and drank it. Whenever I have tried to be healthy I always end up ruining it with too much sugar. I think this is why I'm always tired. In any person food is a key part of the diet. Without it you'd die. If you neglect it you suffer. If you indulge in it you expand. Mainting a healthy diet is a neccesity as humans.

It's the same with your emotions and your spirit ( whatever you want to call it). You know what is healthy, smiling, forgiving, being patient... but you carry on in habits that you know are no good for you. (drinking, swearing, shouting.

Look again at the substances that I consume. The cranberry juice (is what I use instead of wine for communion)  It is now something more significant, to me the cranberry juice represents a holy commnion with God. It represents my giving myself to Christ looking to please him rather than myself. To indulge in him rather tham indulge in myself. The sugar however represents indulgance. In mixing the sugar into the drink, I am sabotaging myself. The sugar makes the drink invalid. The drink is no longer good for me because the sugar has polluted it.

In the same way In my communing with god, the sanctity is polluted by self indulgence.

The visual themes and context, I have realized in making this I have been inpsired and influenced by the early 1960's french movement the situationist international. A pioneer of this movement Guy Deboard invented/ came across the technique of detourment. It is basically using another image to explain a concept. That is what I have done.

It is not completely a religious film. In fact that is just one small insignificant -to the veiwer- part of it. It is about how I find funny that we as humans have the best intentions to improve ourselves, but we pollute that which was going to make us a little bit more healthy.

In addition the location, is my mothers kitchen. Not a white backdrop. Nothing near like a kitchen from 'good houskeeping' but it is  my reality. I purposely have left it how it is, not bothering to tidy up because I never do. The camera is just a digital everyday family camera. Nothing special. This was all considered.