Field Companion

4k video with sound, 2021
Running time: 20:40

Set in a microcosmic forest, the film is based loosely on the pine barrens that dot Southern New Jersey near the home of Hironaka & Suib. Like many, the duo found refuge and solace

In Field Companion, the forest has been condensed and transplanted to a terrarium in the artists’ studio. Twelve cubic feet of pines, shrubs, ferns, moss, fungus and carnivorous plants are reflected infinitely in the terrarium’s mirrored walls and captured with a motion-controlled camera and specialized macro lens that dramatically shift the scale and perspective of this miniature landscape.

Living dwellers—snails, slugs, and insects inhabit the miniature ecosystem, accompanied by digitally rendered part-animal, part-human creatures. Through their conversations and interactions, they look forward, investigating progressive methods of sustainability. The film also touches upon the notion of forest-bathing, the Japanese practice of exploring the natural environment through our senses.

Field Companion was co-commissioned by Rowan University Art Gallery, Locust Projects and the New Jersey Council on the Arts.