2026 – Filmverkstaden / Finland
Taylor Smith
During my residency at Filmverkstaden in Vaasa, Finland (April-June 2026), I primarily worked on a new series of 16mm experimental films called Sublimations toxiques (Toxic Sublimations). This series addresses industrial extractivism and water pollution, combining a variety of sites and perspectives. Each film integrates 16mm footage, manipulated using samples from mines, toxic waste dumps, factories and polluted water bodies in Norway, Finland and Lithuania. The series also includes footage from polluted lakes in Paris, France where I lived for 7 years and my hometown of Rochester, New York, where the Kodak 16mm film I use is manufactured. I consciously use photochemical film, a medium dependent on the mining industry, as a means of dealing with toxicity hands-on. I destroy and chemically manipulate this industrially manufactured film using toxic waste and polluted water, while attempting to make my own film emulsions from the remains.
While in Vaasa, I worked on several films from this series, including a new film dealing with the pollution and mining activities in the Vaasa area, called Rare Earth. I was also able to film underwater in several polluted lakes in Vaasa and the Bothnian Bay thanks to the help of several friends of Filmverkstaden with boats. This filming was done using underwater housing for my Bolex 16mm camera, custom-made by Jonas Ringnes via a collaboration with of the University of Oslo (REAL Kunst program). This underwater footage was developed and partially printed at Filmverkstaden. I also visited and filmed inside two nearby mines during the residency.
Finally, I conducted a two-day workshop called Local, Living Emulsions, bringing local participants into my ongoing research on making emulsions and developers from waste. We collected samples of rust and iron-rich sludge flowing from polluted lakes through the ditches of the city of Vaasa. We then used these samples to make emulsions for 16mm film, paper, and other supports. Before the workshop, in my own experiments, I also used the water from the central lake in Vaasa (Onkilahti) as a developer without any additives. I also presented my work to the French class of a local high school, held a screening and two artist talks during the residency.
Big thanks to Filmverkstaden team: Britt, Paola and Lorena, member-mentors Janika and Daniel, and all the members and friends of Filmverkstaden I was lucky to meet during the residency.
Taylor Alaina Liebenstein Smith (b. 1993) is a U.S.-born, French-nationalized visual artist, filmmaker and researcher currently based in Oslo, Norway. Her practice unfolds through collaborative research with natural scientists (since 2014), poets, choreographers, architects and other organisms— to name a few. Her works seek to address the ecological crisis by generating emotional connections to threatened ecosystems, from polluted lakes and toxic waste landfills to thawing permafrost peatlands. She blends microbes and toxins sampled from these landscapes with analog film and video, creating experimental films and multi-media installations. She also works with printmaking, photography, text and sound. She holds an MFA from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, an MA in Cultural Mediation from the École du Louvre in Paris and both a BFA in Painting and a BA in Art History from Boston University. She has participated in many residencies and exhibited her work internationally, including at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris, France, PROYECTOR video art festival in Madrid, Spain, and Atelier Nord in Oslo, Norway. Her work is included in the French National Collections.
Website: https://www.taylor-smith-art.com/
