I Own A Carousel

Lori Felker made this film, Adam Strohm the sound - in the catalogue, zealously-guarded back-breaking brick of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Felker is quoted: "I own a carousel. I keep it indoors, in the dark. There are no eyes to see it, no children to ride it... I did not make it, I do not enjoy it, I own it." Felker's website gives us more - "I own a carousel. I keep it indoors, in the dark. There are no eyes to see it, no children to ride it. I own the size, presence and weight of it. I own the stress, the power and the idea of it. I did not make it, I do not enjoy it, I own it."

Repetition is power. In the screening guide it says 6 min 50 sec. The carousel turns for a time. There are thick lipped bulls, faces, there are perhaps riders - perhaps sylphs, nymphs, centaurs, the impaled veneered fauna with attendant cherubim, faces and bodies and eyes, around and again and up and round. This is apparently the House On The Rock. Some Gaiman fans may know it, a place of fractal oddness. Closeups of the carousel, perhaps in the dark - there is red, red, red, all the red that's fit to print, all the red of the fair. The eyes catch it, underneath the segmented music, the stutter of steampipes, all tone.

A jealous castle in time, falsity piled upon artifice, circular and fleeting. It is odd, hypnotic, enthralling - weaker as a film for a lack of context - afterwards we are told where, but we are never given the why - is this to own the thing? Is it for the thing? The carousel is not Felker's, but this film is no conventional flag - it is planted in the light - the carousel is not, but this is a statement of control.

Watch the film below

I OWN A CAROUSEL from Lori Felker on Vimeo.