'Ingesting the island' (2022), Sarah Rhodes, from the series 'A Surrounded Beauty' (2020-present)
Ingesting the island (2022) reveals how the land holds our stories and is in a constant dialogue with us. Watching the road unfold gives the viewer an opportunity for the island to become part of us, as we are shaped by our experiences. Only a transparent windscreen stands between the landscape and the viewer. It is not just the road unfolding but the narratives of place that unfold as well. Stories are paired with landscapes evoking similar feelings and emotions. The stories are excerpts from conversations with people experiencing emotional, social or physical isolation in Tasmania, and are told by a single narrator. Interview fragments are separated by a 10 second pause, making it difficult to decipher where one story starts and finishes. The intention is to suggest that these stories are both unique to the individual yet our universal experience. These are our collective stories of islandness.