Water Over Stone No. 4, 2021 (excerpt)
Running time: 22:50 minutes / HD / colour

Movement of water over a stone in Lake Memphrémagog in the Eastern Townships.

Camera: Sylvia Safdie
Editing: Gabrielle Alain, Sylvia Safdie

“To gaze at a river made of time and water
and remember Time is another river
To know that we stay like a river
Our faces vanish like water.” *

*The Art of Poetry
By Jorge Louis Borges

Breath – the rhythm of time

While gazing at the flow of water in Lake Memphremagog, I became captivated by the flow of water over a stone. It was a windy afternoon and the water kept gushing rhythmically in swirls as it intervened with the stone or was it the stone that was intervening with the flow of water. However, it was the stone that I identified with – my body became one with the stone and I was enveloped by its folds and wrinkles

When I became conscious of the experience, I ran to get my video camera. I framed the image and let the camera run.

Every once in a while, you come across an image or a passing moment that is insightful; so full of wonder and grace that is impossible to articulate what it is about (without stripping it of its splendour) because it is about everything. I feel gratitude for those moments.

This video was shown at the exhibition As I Walk at the Fonderie Darling, Montréal, in 2021.