Tailings

Wheal Maid tailings lagoon, Gwennap, Cornwall April 2018.
(Tailings are the material left after the removal of the valuable fraction of an ore.)

The contaminated waste of the Wheal Maid tailings lagoon includes arsenic, cadmium and other heavy metals. This contamination, particularly from oxides and algae has produced unusual colours in the water and lagoon banks. Through the use of variable exposures and superimpositions colour are accentuated while surface ripples, reflections and other recognisable features break the formal abstract image quality. Recordings on-site of a rattle and bowed bell-cymbals provide a spatial and contrasting presence to the flat visuals. The film concludes with a short text providing a factual context.