Ruby Paterno

My practice is informed by my ancestral languages, culture and identity to explore themes of memory, remembering and communication. These works focus on dying languages and dialects and the flaws in their translation. Through experimentation with audio, dance and sculpture as materials of translation, the video works convey ideas of communication and mis-translation. They are an exploration of culture as embodied knowledge, despite what is lost and how the body holds, receives and gives knowledge and communication. Heavily informed by documentation and the role of record keeping, the book acts as a record of all the processes and research in this project that have evolved over this year.

Layers of Translation

(3:23 minutes) VHS tape and digital camera.
This video combines contemporary dance, made objects and voice recordings to explore how the body holds and transfers language and it acts as a record of dying languages. The voice recordings are spoken in Sicilian and the Italian Fiuman dialect; reciting passages relating to language and remembering. Whilst both people are reading the same thing, their translations are different, focusing on miscommunication. Contemporary dance is used as a way to reflect this idea and explore the small, untranslatable details and the gaps in language and communication when translating between languages.

The Body of Language

(3:14 minutes) VHS tape, digital camera and screen recordings.
This video analyses the formation of movement and personal movement vocabulary as a mode of communication. The 3D 'JustSketchMe' program contrasted with the human body reflects the same ideas of miscommunication and the untranslatability between people, languages and all modes of communication. The projected pink drawings are a continuation from earlier works this year and look into visual details and motifs of video and film. This video is presented with a pane of slumped glass hung in front to further the visual and conceptual theme of ‘layers of translation’.