Wind/Water/Wings
An optically-printed canvas which explores the interior feel of world moving with inherent fluidity through a medium of wind and water. It presents an impressionistic portrait of unnatural forces that collide.
The Menopausal Biosphere: Somatic Ecofeminism and Celluloid Alchemy
Barbara Klutinis’s 1995 experimental film Wind/Water/Wings stands as a profound inquiry into the intersecting currents of human somatic cycles and ecological volatility. Eschewing the objective distance of traditional scientific documentary, Klutinis leverages a highly subjective lens to establish an ecofeminist continuum between the bodily transition of menopause and the fragile equilibrium of the natural world. This project aligns with the concept of writing through the body, translated here into a visual language where the internal, hormonal shifts of the filmmaker are mirrored in environments that seem to have gone awry. Through this framing, the physical reality of the aging female body is not treated as a pathological decline, but rather as an active, resonant site of ecological knowledge and material transformation.
Optical Printing and the Phenomenology of Haptic Visuality
On a formal level, the 22-minute, 16mm work utilizes rigorous optical printing techniques to dissolve the indexical stability of the captured image, transforming the film strip into a layered canvas of light and motion. Drawing upon the theoretical framework of haptic visuality, the visual textures of Wind/Water/Wings compel the spectator to experience the image through a tactile, sensory engagement rather than a purely cognitive or voyeuristic gaze. The mechanical interventions of the optical printer—stretching time, superimposing disparate spaces, and altering color values—parallel the physical and spatial disruptions of the menopausal body. By destabilizing the linear flow of the celluloid medium, Klutinis exposes the material fragility of both the film emulsion and the corporeal form, suggesting that neither is a passive vessel but rather a site of active, turbulent transition.
Dialectical Textures: Windmills, Jellyfish, and Symbiosis
The thematic structure of the film is built upon a dialectical montage of distinct environments, notably the industrial wind farms of the Altamont Pass and the gelatinous jellyfish drifting in the depths of the Monterey Bay. These motifs present an impressionistic portrait of unnatural forces in collision, where the kinetic, aggressive rotation of wind turbines contrasts sharply with the silent, organic buoyancy of marine life. This juxtaposition disrupts traditional landscape cinema, creating a complex dialogue between human technology and non-human entities. Rather than presenting nature as a pristine, static wilderness, Klutinis highlights a fragile, interactive ecosystem where the boundary between the artificial and the natural is fluid, fragile, and constantly negotiated.
Acousmatic Dissonance and Sound-Image Disalignment
The sensory complexity of the work is further deepened by its intricate, non-literal sound design. Klutinis, who characterized her practice as that of a textural colorist, rejects the synchronized illustrative audio common to mainstream cinema in favor of a profound acousmatic dissonance. By pairing abstract, synthesized soundscapes with natural imagery, the film constructs a creative misalignment with nature. This sonic friction prevents the spectator from slipping into a passive relationship with the visuals. Instead, the auditory layer acts as a psychological landscape of interior unrest, emphasizing the disorientation that accompanies both somatic metamorphosis and the contemplation of planetary instability.
