I would like to reuse imagery of ormers being prepared and cooked as in this video, they prepare them largely in the same way to how we would in Guernsey. People have harvested Ormers for centuries in the island, its one of the few naturally occurring sources of protein that you don't need a boat to catch.
Ormers (abalone) are a delicacy in Guernsey as well as Japan, they're an acquired taste and very chewy if over cooked. different families have different recipes on how to prepare them, mine cook them in a white wine sauce with bacon and asparagus.
They are only found on extremely low tides (ormering tides) and you're legally only allowed to collect them between January and April therefore they're a rare treat.
Disgust at the violent feeling of the images of them being taken from their shells and nostalgia because they remind me of home and how my mum cooks them with bacon and white wine. Also makes me think of how the sea smells.
Its an uncomfortable and violent video with the beauty of the juxtaposed mother of pearl shells.
what are the connections with my previous work?
Yes, last term I focused on Guernsey ghost stories and how they relate to the modern day, I used found images of houses from teh island and pieces of the local language in the work.
What desires or imperatives do you stir up?
I want to play with colours like in the shells and the violent action of cutting them from the shell, the routine of cooking is a nice pace but I prefer the idea of repitition like deshellingormersover and over again or slowing one deshelling action down to really put the focus on
Why use this video material and not another one?
There isnt one of the guernsey ormer I such good quality with the close ups of the process of taking the shells off, there's no search results for ormers that I could find on the libraries I looked at.
