I’m pretty much positive that I will never lose sight of the images permanently imprinted in my head, put forth in the video SUBJECT, by dancer James Koroni and videographer Joshua Katcher. If you’re under the impression that SUBJECT will stay with me because it documents horrific animal abuse, think again. If you’re sure that the reason SUBJECT is now a bookmark on my browser is because it is full of useful talking points about animal exploitation, you are incorrect.
SUBJECT is neither of those things. Instead, it is a piece of art, a deeply felt manifesto examining consciousness, sentience, and the human-animal bond. It is a two minute and 49 second long dance piece — performance piece really (performed by the brilliantly talented Koroni) — with perhaps the most stunningly beautiful videography I have seen (by the equally talented and creatively progressive Katcher). SUBJECT was filmed at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, which seems an appropriate backdrop for a video about hope, love, quirkiness, and all of the other things which bond us human animals with other species. We are them, they are us. We all breathe the same air, we all find things peculiar, we all long. In SUBJECT, the line separating “us” from “them” is a fuzzy one, and the lust for life that bonds us is abundantly felt. At Woodstock Sanctuary, these animal ambassadors — the very lucky and very few — are given a second chance to live their lives with peace and dignity intact. Though I’m not sure how, Koroni and Katcher capture that, and celebrate it. This is their SUBJECT, and they are making it known in the most breathtaking way possible — through the inexplicable power of surreal and life-altering art.
SUBJECT, 2012 from James Koroni on Vimeo.
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