Dozer
About
As long as I can remember, I have had an affection for bulldozers – their power and their grandeur. My fascination with them continues to grow as I observe their ceaseless efforts. With this film I explore the awe inspired by such a destructive force. DOZER features the bulldozer as an icon of American culture and examines the continuous reconstruction of our surroundings. An important point of focus is the impact of the automobile and its infrastructure on our society, environment, and general quality of life, as bulldozers exchange natural landscapes for freeways - landscapes of an industrialized society. This film explores how and why the advent of the automobile has reshaped our lives with an emphasis on several questions: what was there before? What has changed due to the car? My grandmother provides voiceover accounts of life during the emergence of the automobile. She perfectly illustrates pivotal moments of history in very human terms. The naively optimistic text of The Prayer of America's Road Builders adds a subtle irony. Industrial sounds (piledrivers, edgecode printers, trains, the freeway itself, etc.) are manipulated, looped, and layered to function as music. As an aural atmosphere of rhythm, the effects at times create fake sync sound and at others act contrapuntally, contributing to the visual images to form a unique filmic space. The visual aesthetic of DOZER is an exploration of structure and construction as well. I utilize many forms of image layering (multiple projection, optical printing and in-camera effects) which create an even greater distance between subject and viewer.
