“Layette" is an experimental documentary created from material scanned, shot on super 8 film, digitally manipulated and hand processed on 16-mm film shot from a computer monitor and
processed again.
16:00 2004
The film's documentary element is based on a phone interview. On the soundtrack a woman speaks candidly about her desire to produce children coupled with her inability to continue doing so.
Images intermix with minimal violin sounds vaguely musical but often suggesting a concrete source. Old toys and a short 1940's record sample were the source for other sounds in the film.
The sound of the woman speaking is paired with a found photograph that I picked up in a thrift store in Omaha Nebraska. The pictured female seems to be from the past, although there is not enough information presented to make an accurate determination. She is also young, probably in her early teens.
Despite evidence of distance and youth in the photo, the sound seems to win out, fusing the character of the girl with the deep voice of the mature woman into a fictional presence.
Other images arise in the film including animated dresses, string, partially erased photographs (which I picked up alongside the Omaha girl) and a child.