People Like Us "Skew Gardens" 2008

People Like Uss remarkable new video is a huge change in direction. Not so much a musically-based sound / image collage as a surrealist critique of nature, Vicki Bennett picks up dystopian strands of a world gone wrong. Odd technological displacements disrupt what appears to be a peaceful garden: ominous reflections spoil an otherwise idylic view; radiated giant insects ominously threaten passersby quietly admiring the fauna. This new video has much in common with the wonderful insectivore films of Irene Moon, also hosted on UbuWeb.

Skew Gardens on Ubu: http://www.ubu.com/film/plu_skew.html

UbuWeb hosts 14 films by People Like Us and hundreds of brilliant MP3s:

Film: http://ubu.com/film/plu.html

Sound: http://ubu.com/sound/plu.html

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• People
• Like
• Us
• Skew
• Gardens
• 2008

[Alopex01]

Context is everything. Retard means to slow down/last in French, in the same way that avant means 'first' or 'advance'. I think 'avant retard' is a clever rhyme of avant garde... going forwards, going back. That's all. Plenty other places you could find real insults I reckon, but not in that.

[ZaynahInvestmentsltd]

Vicki Bennett used the term "Avant Retard" to describe her style of production. I have worked in the social sector for people with learning difficulties for almost twenty years and have often heard that dark age term used as a cheap and deeply insulting comment. As a tireless advocate of herself as an artist she should know better.