Curated by Erica Battle

The Sandretto Foundation presents a new video installation by Rachel Rose. The title of the work, Wil-o-Wisp, refers to the ghostly lights that were seen hovering over swamps and marshes at night and which, in folklore, could have the sinister effect of disorienting people. In Rose's work, the title alludes to characters whose path is determined both by voluntary choices and by the force of chance.

For Wil-o-Wisp, the artist directed a video in which a woman's fate is inextricably intertwined with moments of rebellion, mistrust and persecution in 16th-century agrarian England, a time when the Enclosures movement led to privatization of land across the country. The video follows several episodes of Elspeth's experience, alternating moments of family life and tragedy, the practice of magic and persecution. The work reflects on the harsh reality of English rural life in an era that saw a culture of suspicion grow, whereby women like Elspeth, who practiced non-traditional forms of care, were often seen as a threat within an everlasting society. more regulated.

Rose's video is characterized as much by the intensive approach to post-production as by the attention it devotes to the script and to the preparation of the set. After shooting the video in Plimoth, he added further elements, such as a story composed in iambic pentameter, sung by an ethereal voice.