Filmmakers and food lovers Jen and Grant dive into the issue of food waste…
Wrought
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
This visual exploration of decay begs questions about our relationships with other species.
Wrought begins with that universal moment of disappointment: despite all best efforts, our food has gone bad. But instead of turning away in disgust, Wrought zooms in with curiosity through timelapse photography.
Wrought explores how we construct categories for the world. It examines the categories of spoil, ferment, compost and rot, coaxing audiences to decompose the binary of human and non-human. We are forged from the relationships that transgress such binaries; we are all, indeed, wrought.
"Microbial science has unveiled complexity at increasingly fine spatial resolution, and many are realizing that there is new beauty at that small scale. These microbes have character. For several decades studying fungal biology, I have used the tagline 'with decomposition comes character.' Wrought echoes the idea that decay is not loss - decay is a transformation. This film will resonate with students who naturally want to understand the character of organisms, even when those organisms are individually microscopic." Dr. Jonathan Schilling, Professor of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Minnesota
"Using gorgeous time-lapse footage to draw the viewer in, Wrought showcases decaying organisms in all their glory: We witness the process of the loss of edible food to composting of waste to production of new food via fermentation to recycling of dead organisms. The film will make audiences move beyond considering what is good and bad to reconsider how fundamental, natural, and necessary decomposition is for life." Amy Zanne, Professor of Biology, University of Miami
"Wrought is a playful and provocative meditation on rot, a metabolic tapestry of technicolor microscopy and exuberant wordplay. It is also an invitation to see the world in all of its abject, intimate, animate complexity." Caitlin DeSilvey, Professor of Cultural Geography, University of Exeter, Author, Curated Decay: Heritage Beyond Saving
"Absolutely stunning...In our current plastic-filled and technology-focused world, this resonates particularly strongly and allows us to reconsider the natural steps that are essential to the cycle of life...Highly nourishing food for thought, just don't let it sit too long." Cosmos Magazine
"Beautiful imagery...Sharp writing...Wrought will convince you to look differently at the parts of life generally deemed disgusting. As worms wriggle around in a pile of old vegetables, or as white mold creeps its way across discarded fruit, you might question whether you're watching something revolting - you might be watching something beautiful." Ben Waldman, Winnipeg Free Press
"Consistently engaging and often beautiful...Progressing logically from food spoilage to food fermentation to compost to animal decomposition, Wrought tastefully covers topics that may cause some viewers discomfort, and never sensationalizes. I view it as appropriate for middle-school-aged audiences and above, and can picture different portions (spoilage, fermentation, compost) being covered in different lessons. At the college level, I could see incorporating 3-6 minute portions into lecture, or playing the full video as part of a lab session or assigning it for out of class watching; I would use it in sections on food spoilage and food fermentations." Heather Hallen-Adams, Associate Professor of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
"No film before Wrought has woven decay, fermentation and decomposition with such rich narrative and vivid images...Wrought mesmerizes and dissects...It teems with life and deconstructs decay into a new vocabulary." Corrado Nai, Small Things Considered
"Wrought is a visually-compelling examination of cultural framings of rot. Beginning with a commentary on rotting foods and the microorganisms that play complex roles in our food systems, the film becomes a thoughtful meditation on the fleeting stability of life, and the transformative nature of decomposition. Wrought is disturbing in the best way: it disrupts preconceived notions of decomposition and the social values often connected to such processes." Kate Parizeau, Associate Professor of Geography, Environment, and Geomatics, University of Guelph
Citation
Main credits
Sigrithur, Anna (film director)
Sigrithur, Anna (film producer)
Sigrithur, Anna (screenwriter)
Sigrithur, Anna (narrator)
Penner, Joel (film director)
Penner, Joel (film producer)
Other credits
Cinematography, animation & editing, Joel Penner; music, Randolph Peters.
Distributor subjects
No distributor subjects provided.Keywords
rot,decay,organic,decomposition,macrophotography,timelapse,time-lapse,bacteria,microbiology,fermentation,composting; "Wrought"; Bullfrog Films
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crumble
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fester
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moulder
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ripen
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seethe
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putresce
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go bad
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This language has a lot of words for rot
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but is this due to appreciation
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or squeamishness?
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Words give voice to disgust
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but disgust is slippery
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something that makes us feel queasy
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may not be dangerous
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though thinking about it
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can get us a bit overwrought.
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When rot creeps into our homes
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it tends to spoil our fun.
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In a forgotten corner of the refrigerator
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microbes, once-dormant
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begin to leap into action.
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But don't turn away in disgust
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come a little closer
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and see the universe that unfolds
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in these forsaken places.
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Here, colonies of bacteria
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drift like icebergs
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and grow like snowflakes
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around seeds of dust.
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Spores, adrift and desolate
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finally reach their promised land.
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Tender cell walls collapse
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releasing roiling torrents
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of water and sugars
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which then dry into shifting vistas
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for swarming microscopic life.
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Yeasts belch carbon dioxide
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into the swirling, cloudy atmosphere.
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Toothless moulds gum their way
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through hard-shelled seeds
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melting their potential into slimy mush.
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Watching this unfold
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I am surprised as my revulsion is replaced
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by reverence.
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But when mould colonizes
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contested landscapes
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staking its claim on nutrients
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I had saved for myself
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I declare that things are going bad.
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And I might reach for the bleach
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keeping rot at bay
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with antiseptic incantations for a while.
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But would rot, if called by any other name
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still reek?
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Fermentation is spoiling's cultured twin
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the hopeful treaty between human and microbe
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that says, "Eat this cucumber now
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so I may eat it later"
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Preservation through transformation.
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This treaty has allowed
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many kinds of bodies
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like yeast, wheat and our own
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to rise and spill across the earth
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in delicious collaborations.
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A taste for milk
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shared by humans and bacteria
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led to yogurt
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and cheese.
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Some domesticated moulds
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knit beans into nutritious tempeh.
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Others render barley and rice
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the fragrant catalyst for miso.
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Up close
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the transformative power of these fungi
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appears more choreography than chemistry.
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Bubbles rise and roil
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a sure sign of the invisible spirits
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who influence our minds.
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But before I get too rosy-cheeked
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let me recall
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it was we who declared culture
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in the rising of bubbles
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and it is we who draw lines
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between culture and rot.
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So what is fermented or rotten
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is a matter of thought.
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Here on the counter
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a jar is pregnant with life
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reminding us that no birth
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comes without labour
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and that along with the bubbles
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come the toils and the troubles.
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While fermentation leavens
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and spoilage threatens
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compost reincarnates
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forming biological static
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between the frequencies
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of animal and vegetable
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ready to be tuned into new life.
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Wriggling creatures form disassembly lines
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for humanity's leftovers.
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Worms traffic nutrients
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on slippery, writhing freeways.
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They follow bacteria's passage
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into the interior of a fruit
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where crisp flesh melts into flux.
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A seasonal tempo emerges
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composting and composing.
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Fallen leaves are stripped down
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to reveal secret skeletons
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and their vivid rainbow pigments
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fade into the black richness
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of the forest floor.
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But compost soils
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more than just fruits and foliage
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it claims creatures with blood
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creatures with senses
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creatures with mothers
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and they too
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the swarming multitudes will invade
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devour
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and rip apart.
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In the compost heap
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I am fine with such violent disarray.
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But come my time to dissolve
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I am far less brave.
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Habituated to this one body
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anything else suggests oblivion.
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But the compost heap dreams
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of another option
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to be wrought
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that is, transformed.
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But is this transformation a caress
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or is it violence?
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Metamorphosis or ruin?
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The answer depends
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on where within rot's vast network we stand.
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At times rot is a feast!
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A multispecies melee of gorging
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digesting and excreting.
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Devoured by beetles
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rotting flesh wriggles to life once more
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in a putrid eucharist of feather
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scale and bone.
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Rot even offers a place for moments of rest
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and togetherness.
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In a world obsessed with growth
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we overlook
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these tender possibilities of decay.
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That soft and loving surface
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that will catch us when we fall
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disassemble us
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and let us return together
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in new and vibrant flesh.
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But for now, this flesh is perishable.
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With each breath, we make a choice
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What do we preserve?
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And what do we leave to rot?
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Some things are hard to swallow
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but when digested
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allow for infinite becoming.
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As it is, we only have a taste.
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And once swallowed
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we too are not dead.
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We are wrought.
