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𓇗 ON “MARGINALIA”

Dorian Winter

Watch 'MARGINALIA' here or in the Nowhere Girl Collective 'DEAR DIARY' Issue!

In March of 2024, I started listening to Masakatsu Takagi’s discography—most notably his Marginalia albums. At a time when I felt a little lost, stuck like a small animal in a glue trap, there was something quietly alluring about drifting into these ambient sidelines. The Marginalia albums are effortlessly soft, their notes sounding like the aural equivalent of fog and raindrops on a window. Yet, even as I surrendered to their gentle, loose melodies, I found myself craving something more unnerving and darker—so I turned to Chopin.


Drawing inspiration from this liminal period and the perpetual overthinking that fuels my creative projects, I recently directed and produced MARGINALIA, a gloomy, abstract art film that explores themes of documentation, dissociative fugue, and the distortion of linear time. Much like works that dissolve and divide sound to simulate the slow decay of memory (think Everywhere At The End of Time), I set out to create unreal outdoor and indoor scenes that evoke a sense of “nowhere”—a fragmented space for the self to reside in. We never quite know what or who “Ellar” is, or what these elusive words mean, or even what it means to “leave”—is it a resignation from the world or from self-recognition?


If you’ve followed any of my recent entries, you know I did indeed journey up to 'Noble Hills' to film the outdoor elements—a location as eerie as it is peaceful in the evenings. While setting up my lighting and tripod, I watched as a gentle sunset kissed the grass and fluttered through the trees; once the sun went down, the landscape transformed into a perfect, moody canvas. I love filming nature at night, especially when I introduce artificial lighting to create that slightly unnerving, dreamlike atmosphere which, in life, seems almost impossible to encounter naturally. I’ve been playing with this sort of contrast since 2020, back when a high school photography class had me shooting prototype covers for a fake gothic rock album. There’s nothing quite like windy summer nights and improvising with cellophane over an Amazon light using masking tape.


To ensure a measure of anonymity—and to detach the work from any fixed persona—I incorporated various fur-covered fox masks into the outdoor scenes, conjuring an “imposter” figure lurking among the trees. (Ironically, these same masks manage to confuse my dog, whose white fur makes her look uncannily similar.) I’m even considering experimenting with flesh-colored papier-mâché masks in a future project, to add a touch more unnatural horror.


Inside, I juxtaposed the countryside shots with intimate sequences projected onto a new screen, showcasing some of my own animations and archival footage. There’s a fresh sharpness about where I currently live—a stark backdrop where doors create defined edges and warp familiar words, and sheer curtains scatter and bounce ordinary images. As much as I loathe contending with bare walls (until I finally manage to hang my paintings), that negative space has served as an unexpected muse.


I intentionally kept my directing loose, filming MARGINALIA as though it were an extension of a painting or one of my many photos taken during evening hikes. I have always been fascinated by chiaroscuro—the dalliance between light and dark—and I strive to weave that interplay into all my work. Looking ahead, I hope to venture into more urban settings, to capture those “concrete skeletons” that might serve as silent, brooding actors in the background of future narratives.


If you happen to watch the short and enjoy it - please don't shy away from commenting! My work is always open for interpretation and I would love to hear your thoughts.


Note: Thank you so much for almost 100 views on Youtube!

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© 2023 by Dorian Winter

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