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Devotio Moderna
The work of filmmaker and artist Shellie Fleming spanned a wide range of forms: films, installations, street art, books, and photography. Much of her work had an ephemeral and time-bound character, leaving only remnants today. For Fleming, her life was her art, and the physical objects she created were not always intended to be preserved or, by extension, to be shared with a wider audience.
In Devotio Moderna, Sylvia Plath’s “Tulips” both structures and undermines the work. Fleming deconstructs the poem and creates new word combinations—primarily with the terms “flesh,” “stone” and “light”—that transform the poem so as to align with Fleming’s audiovisual vision. The poetry can be heard, seen, and felt in Devotio Moderna, which becomes a highly physical, tangible experience that is amplified layer by layer. The title of the film refers to a religious practice in which collective praying is exchanged for a more personal, gentle, inner prayer.
“Despite the fact that the poem is about illness and is expressed in dark language… fundamentally… Devotio Moderna is about light. Luminosity,” Fleming concludes.