[ALT. PLAN'T], 2024
a.k.a. Alternative Planet
a.k.a. Alternative Planet
[ALT. PLAN'T], 2024 | a.k.a. Alternative Planet | 2’30”
Video & Textural Soundscape by Emilie Crewe
Original Piano Music Composed & Performed by Ralph Crewe
4K (+ SD) Video Collage w/ Hi-Res Digital Stop-motion "Scanimation"
Video & Textural Soundscape by Emilie Crewe
Original Piano Music Composed & Performed by Ralph Crewe
4K (+ SD) Video Collage w/ Hi-Res Digital Stop-motion "Scanimation"
Set in three phases, [Alt Plan’t] tells the story of a lone Astro-gardener documenting their experience on a distant exoplanet. Through metaphors and overlapping terminology, the narrative creates a cross-bridge between astronomy and anatomy, highlighting themes of transcending the corporeal body into planetary orbit across space-time. [Alt Plan’t], short for “alternative planet,” explores the concept of seeking out the 'habitable zone' of extrasolar planets for human ecological benefit and colonization—a controversial topic. This particular planet is inspired by Gliese 667Cc, located 23.62 light-years away.
The video was produced from footage collected during an artist residency in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 2021. Visuals of the Fagradalsfjall Volcano and the Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant represent the exoplanet, while an array of planetary pill bottles drifts through interstellar space. The gardener character was created as a stop-motion “scanimation” using hundreds of digital still images captured from a flatbed scanner. My brother, Ralph, composed and performed the piano music, which I edited and mastered to accompany a heavily layered, textural soundscape.