Flux (1977)

In Flux, Steina films a river from a wide angle, deforming the image to the point of creating a sort of radiating, aqueous ball - like a liquid planet turning in space. Steina alternately shows fairly rapid shots, always taken at a very wide angle, which film the river once in one direction and then once in the other; she thus obtains a simple visual and very efficient equivalent of the energy of the water. The close succession of the shots, like the use of the reprocessed soundtrack of running water, are all variations on the texture of the aquatic substance. Under the façade of a work far removed from realism, Steina in fact offers a work that is in total contrast with the traditional images of running water, but, with her video vision, comes very close to literary and pictorial visions of romanticism. She manages to translate the entire mythology of water into images without using narrative or symbolism, but by simply using the possibilities provided by her camera and machines.