Cedar Sherbert: Gesture Down (I Don’t Sing)

Artist(s):

• Cedar Sherbert

Collaborators:

• RJ Lozada
• Josephy Tsai
• Joe Dzuban
• Timo Chen
• Howard Duy Vu
• Sherman Alexie
• Lois Welch

Title:

Gesture Down (I Don’t Sing)

Exhibition:

• SIGGRAPH 2007: Global Eyes

Creation Year:

2007

Medium:

A short film screened on a loop

Category:

• Interactive & Monitor-Based

Artist Statement:

Gesture Down (I Don’t Sing) is a highly personal interpretation of the poem “Gesture Down to Guatemala” by the late Blackfeet/Gros Ventre writer James Welch. It was one of seven short films commissioned by celebrated author and filmmaker Sherman Alexie as part of a weekend-long tribute to James Welch held at the Richard Hugo House in Seattle, Washington. The poem was taken from Mr. Welch’s sole book of poetry, Riding the Earthboy 40. It is a stark, beautiful, first-person rumination on place, longing, and identity. These are themes of deep resonance for me, as I am both a descendent of and estranged from the La Huerta Indian community of northern Baja California, México. This is my grandfather’s home and the place where Gesture Down (I Don’t Sing) was shot.

Technical Information:

The short was “filmed” using a Panasonic AG-DVX100 camera
and edited using Final Cut Pro