Ornella Fieres, An Algorithm for Snowfall

The video work An Algorithm for Snowfall (2019) shows an algorithm-based reconstruction of scientific films, which are played in parallel once forwards and once backwards, by the artist. Fragments from mountain climbs, microscopic observations, and melting glaciers appear distorted in slow motion. The sequences thematize the entangled relationship between researcher and their environment. Quite often, humans intervene in nature without knowing the effects their actions will have on the environment, often with devastating consequences. In the middle of the film, the two film clips meet, run synchronously for a moment, and then disappear again into their spirals. In this temporal distortion, progress and regression cannot be meaningfully distinguished by human perception.