The bush of Western Australia and a biology lab serve as the settings of Kathy High’s ’77 latest documentary, Death Down Under, which focuses on eco-friendly deaths.
High and her collaborator Cynthia White follow Pia Interlandi, fashion designer, and Ian Dadour, forensic scientist, as they bury 21 slaughtered pigs in Interlandi’s eco-friendly burial shrouds and later study the effects of their decomposition.
The documentary, which is still in production and will run about 60 minutes, is a record of the process that Interlandi and Dadour went through, as much as it is a film raising awareness about ideas of green burials and the ecology of death.
High is an associate professor of video and new media at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She visited the Colgate campus to present her work, speak to the Art Since 1960 class, conduct a guest critique for student work in the Digital Studio 2 class, and introduce Death Down Under on March 20 as part of the Alternative Cinema series.
Kathy High '77 is associate professor of video and new media at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
High’s role in the project was that of filmmaker, but that does not mean she was not also part of the experiment.
While White was filming, High was with Interlandi washing and preparing the pigs for burial and vice versa. Although High said that the camera allowed for separation and made it “easier to film the gross parts,” she was also physically helping Interlandi and did get pulled into the process.
Though the film can be gory at times, it is not without humor. Dadour provides some comedy as the scientist unafraid to get his hands dirty. Interlandi writes the pigs thank you notes to be buried with them and makes certain they have been buried with proper ceremony.
The documentary is still in the final editing stage and High continues to work toward distributing it. More information about natural earth burials can be found here and in the zine, Buried Naturally.