#swandown

I watched Kotting's travelogue involving taking a pedalo around the coast and then down the Thames with Ian Sinclair. Very well shot, interesting mix of dramatically composed scenes and handheld footage from in the boat. I also liked the use of staged footage like the recreation of Ophilia as they travelled past the river bank. This element of the fictitious spliced into the documentary is something which for me adds a great element of wonder. I got the impression they didn't quite know what they were setting out to achieve or discover, something made evident by Kotting proclaiming the serendipity of the voyage to be part of the attraction. This was what partly what made it so successful but also what meant it never went too in-depth into the nature of many of the ideas explored in the work or happenings along the way, something i may have chosen to do. This was also evident in the audio samples layer over the top which included extracts of Herzog and John Smith which worked to create a wonderful ghostly commentary, reminding the viewer of the lineage associated with sea voyages and the many souls who had undertakes such tasks before, all of which added weight to the adventurous nature of the work. This did also make for a rather strange viewing experience where one could not easily digest each sample for what it said individually but instead as this collection of voices. presumably this is Kotting's intention, not to experience his journeys to reach one overarching conclusion but to see the myriad of experiences along the way. I loved the absurdity which inspired the whole thing; the use of a leisure craft to undertake a serious voyage, their attempt to transform and inhabit the swan, the poetic irony gleaned from the idea of 'swanning down the river'. This is essentially an experiment in freedom as well. 

Swandown (2012)