Hush the Sky

2013

Synopsis:

A hand-drawn chalkboard animation by Alette Simmons-Jimenez using line to document bitstream-type memories of a recent road trip in search of early childhood roots. This work was conceived for The Drawing Project, curated by Emmy Mathis in 2013 and sponsored by Frost Art Museum at Florida International University.

From the very beginning drawing was a tool that allowed us to record a memory, an image, a sensation, or an experience... something we didn't want to forget. I lived in Northern Italy as a young child, during the time they call “your most formative years”. The first words I learned to speak were in Italian. I was only recently able to travel back. I was startled by the immediate visceral connection. I drove from Milan to the lakes of Northern Italy, on to the village of neighboring Soglio, Switzerland, and back through mountain peaks where Michelangelo visited marble quarries, then along ragged ocean cliffs, through Florence and on to vineyards in the heart of Tuscany.

“Hush The Sky” is a short, spontaneous, art/documentary video, running 1:59min. using hand-drawn animation employing drawn lines culled from personal travel pics that record memories of the journey. The stream of images comes together on a chalkboard, filmed in real time, with markings and erasures. The resulting animation of designs and patterns, link back and forth, from nature to the built environment – from Medieval to Modern. Beginning with a wish I made, blowing the delicate seeds of a dandelion into the wind, the animation follows memories as they jump into consciousness. The audio portion is the actual sound recorded while drawing/erasing, with the distortions that occurred during editing.

Digital Video, Chalkboard Animation, TRT: 00:01:59

Credits:       

• Alette Simmons-Jiménez: Concept and creation, camera, direction, sound, editor, producer.       

Screenings:     

• 2023 Miami Int. Airport, Moving Image Gallery, Wherever We land…, Miami, FL

• 2023 SuperBlue Miami, Chroma Art & Film Festival, Miami, FL

• 2014 M-D College Museum of Art & Design, Cortaditos Video Shorts: Miami/Valencia, Miami, FL

• 2013 FIU Online Project, The Drawing project, Miami FL