Hydra & the Hydro

Hydra & the Hydro, HD video, 17 minutes.

As a general rule, grass snakes don’t like hibernating in compost heaps unless they are well sheltered from the wind and protected from at least three sides. Reptiles like stable temperatures that don’t vary during the winter months, so that means going underground. But some compost bins are warmer that others.

Hydra & the Hydro was made during a residency with Doremifasolasido at The Coniston Institute, Cumbria, October 2017. In the video, footage taken from the local surroundings and screen recordings of online speed reading apps combine to process John Ruskin’s Queen of the Air, the Greek myth of Hydra, new life in a compost bin and a dead badger. Hydra & the Hydro explores stories we tell of the natural environment to tell stories of cultural beliefs.

You can read a review of the residency’s closing event here.