Dropped: History in the Breaking
This ACE funded film is a collaboration between artist Syann van Niftrik and filmmaker Zan Barberton – mother and daughter.
A beautiful pot is dropped and broken. As an archaeologist reconstructs it, she pieces together a picture of the potter who made it.
Structured like a murder-mystery, the piece begs the question: What of the soul of the maker resides in the found object? And can the science of archaeology ever make sense of the mysteries of art?
This film was part of a time-based-installation (the other part being the reconstructed pot) which was itself the culmination of project Syann engaged in working with UK craftspeople and Archaeologists at Southampton University.
Shot by Coraci Ruiz and Zan Barberton, edited by Scott Radnor
