AT SEA by Peter Hutton

This past weekend I drove out to Salem to visit the Peabody Essex Museum where Peter Hutton (among other artists) was showing a film. The film in the exhibit was Hutton’s ‘At Sea’, a 60-minute piece he made between 2004 and 2007. The subject of the film is the journey of a container ship, which is shown in many different circumstances, from being constructed, sailing across the ocean in varying weather conditions, and being deconstructed by labor workers while docked. The film is shot in a typical Hutton fashion: poetic, silent, meditative, and subtly revealing.

A funny thing happened while I was sitting in the screening room. I had been sitting there for about five minutes, just enough time for the effects of one of Hutton’s stunning masterpieces to start to take my mind to another place. I was starting to sink into a thoughtful abyss when my brief moment of mediation and connectedness was interrupted by a simple-minded woman who had entered the room with a man who most likely was her husband. Less than a minute after finding a seat she asks her husband “so when’s it start?” followed by an uncomfortable laugh.  He didn’t respond and she pushed further. “I know this is an art film but seriously is this it?” Her husband paid attention to her disappointment now. He got up from his seat and walked around to the front of the showing room. The couple left and never came back. I saw them later walking around other parts of the museum. I smiled when I heard this whole reaction and interaction unfold. Some people really can’t handle just sitting and watching without being fed uber-stimulating material to occupy their brains.  The lady didn’t even give it a shot.

This slow paced and focused aesthetic is what I love so much about Hutton’s work! I find it romantic. His long length shots make the viewer notice and value the miniscule and precious transient moments often overlooked by way of distractedness. This quality is poetic and urges me personally to write poetry upon viewing. Very inspiring! The silence is lush. Having no sound stimuli turns all my senses more acute. My hearing becomes considerably keener, and I begin to notice the buzzing sound that is present when a space is devoid of actual created sound.

In this film, as in other films by Hutton there is a strong curiosity of light. One shot in particular that I remember noticing the shift of light was a shot of the crates on a sunny day (time looked like morning) after a rainstorm. The light kisses the wet crate in the top right corner of the frame, disappears for a moment as the sun is covered by a cloud whose shadow is visible where the sun once was, and then reappears reflecting gloriously on the surface of the water. The position of the camera in these shots, bouncing with the motion of the ship being pushed along by the waves, helped to create an appreciation of what it might be like to be at sea for a length of time. In some shots water from the boat or the misty weather appeared on the surface of the camera’s lens. This was another feature of the shooting style, which helped to create some frame of reference and perspective for the viewer in relation to the imagery and content. This is an emotionally engaging and cognitively pleasing piece of cinema.