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Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
These images are stills from a film or video artwork. Artist films are often created with specific experiences or physical spaces in mind. As a result, and for additional copyright reasons, we’re currently unable to show the full work as it was intended online.
5 Channel high definition digital projection. Running time: 17 minutes, 40 seconds. Edition 1 of 3. Aberfan is a Welsh village which suffered a tragedy in 1966 when a colliery waste tip slid down the mountainside and engulfed Pantglas Junior School and as a result 144 people died. Since then the village has always been associated with the disaster and now want to seperate themselves from that identity. Attie asked the people of Aberfan to assume static poses that reflected their social or occupational roles within the community. He then filmed them on an unseen revolving stage using dramatic lighting to create light and shadow reminiscent of Old Master paintings. A book about the project was published by Parthian in 2009 and the making of the work was the subject of a BBC documentary - An American in Aberfan 2006.
