'Slit' / An interview with Lucinda Issell
'Slit' / An interview with Lucinda Issell
Espousing gluttony and absurdism; Lucinda Issell’s debut experimental short is anything but comfortable and yet the hypnotic audio / visual experience screams at you to stay.
Studying the other side of food porn ‘Slit’ dives into the perverse palpation of the human relationship to food.
“It also examines the ideas of atoms and objects being constantly recycled and the possibility of these objects potentially holding memory, putting into question whether they hold spirits, as well as the nature of creation.”
Deconstructing the life cycle of food with a particular focus on its denouement; the film provides a torch to wonder through the preternatural association of rotting food as something to be disgusted by, rather than discussed. It prompts participation of sitting with the uncomfortable and pondering its innate triggers within the human psyche.
A style that edges on the macabre and is married to the unusual, Lucinda’s artistic voice whilst differing in tone, is constant in its ability to permeate the subconscious and illicit deep physiological reactions.
Still from 'Slit' (Issell, 2020)
A lot of your past work is quite whimsical in nature, upbeat tones and robust vibrant colours. Did this new style of filmmaking feel like a jump from your current discography? Well the experimental film I made a few years ago I played around with black and white too, so too outside of my comfort zone. It was fun exploring a more serious and grotesque subject matter but I definitely enjoy the more lighthearted and absurdist comedy route, which I think still bleed through a bit with the incorporation of the ghost eating.
Conceptually you never seemed to shy away from taboo in your work and this film is no exception - what provoked this idea? I had done quite a bit of research when formulating my ideas. I’d read the constructivist manifesto and looked artists like Stan Brakhage which definitely inspired the spirit and unearthly elements. My biggest influence I think was Khrustalyov my Car by Aleskei German, I’d read the film was so confronting that audience’s walked out on it at Cannes, so I wanted to see how far I could push towards that sort of reaction without depicting violence.
You have mentioned before that you have come from a background rooted in religion but have since diverged. Eating and the ceremony of food can be quite ritualistic. How do you think this has affected your work and in particular this film with the concept of rotting, recycled food?Yeah it’s quite interesting when you look objectively at the ritualism of food within Catholicism, like the whole metaphor of eating the body of Christ and drinking his blood. I remember thinking how horrifying that concept was as a kid. I think the more I try to push away the part of me that was deeply religious when I was younger, the more I see it influences my work in small ways. So I suppose my detachment from my spirituality kind of links in with this film’s themes of sensitisation from meat and the food manufacturing process.
You can watch the film here
Words by Mia van der Plas
Well the experimental film I made a few years ago I played around with black and white too, so too outside of my comfort zone. It was fun exploring a more serious and grotesque subject matter but I definitely enjoy the more lighthearted and absurdist comedy route, which I think still bleed through a bit with the incorporation of the ghost eating.
Conceptually you never seemed to shy away from taboo in your work and this film is no exception - what provoked this idea?
I had done quite a bit of research when formulating my ideas. I’d read the constructivist manifesto and looked artists like Stan Brakhage which definitely inspired the spirit and unearthly elements. My biggest influence I think was Khrustalyov my Car by Aleskei German, I’d read the film was so confronting that audience’s walked out on it at Cannes, so I wanted to see how far I could push towards that sort of reaction without depicting violence.
You have mentioned before that you have come from a background rooted in religion but have since diverged. Eating and the ceremony of food can be quite ritualistic. How do you think this has affected your work and in particular this film with the concept of rotting, recycled food?
Yeah it’s quite interesting when you look objectively at the ritualism of food within Catholicism, like the whole metaphor of eating the body of Christ and drinking his blood. I remember thinking how horrifying that concept was as a kid. I think the more I try to push away the part of me that was deeply religious when I was younger, the more I see it influences my work in small ways. So I suppose my detachment from my spirituality kind of links in with this film’s themes of sensitisation from meat and the food manufacturing process.
You can watch the film here
Words by Mia van der Plas
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