Ruth Hayes

A gathering of friends is thrown into chaos by the opening of a mysterious fiery sinkhole near their secluded holiday home.

Wanda is a short story of feline and feminine desire. In this delightful piece composed of video animation and live-action footage in Super and Video 8 the narrator reflects on the unrestrained behavior of her cat in heat.

An animated, allegorical retelling of the history of the conquest of the Americas. I began the film in 1985 as a sequential panel drawing of a map of Central America metamorphosing into chaos. It was titled "Patterns of Intervention" and captioned with a list of US incursions into Central America. I wanted to portray the repetitive nature of US interventionism from its roots. Research led me back in time and my idea expanded into an attempt to subvert and transform the images traditionally used to represent American history.

The bells, or koudounia, that goats and sheep in Crete traditionally wore served as amulets to ward off evil spirits. Still in use, they also help shepherds know where their flocks are and what they are doing. Animated to a track composed of koudounia samples, this film’s abstract imagery originated in cameraless techniques that include stencil and bleach on 16mm color stock, and cyanotype.

A phytogram cocktail made with three varieties of basil.