Oregon Department of Kick Ass

9 minutes 11 seconds 2011

digital video

cinematography: Vanessa Renwick

score: Lori Goldston

sound recording: Kyle Hanson

edit: Vanessa Renwick

online edit : Tim Scotten

commissioned by The Tacoma Art Museum

Vanessa Renwick frames the powerful mechanical operations of the industrial tide flats between the languid waters of Puget Sound and the towering splendor of Mount Rainier. Her film honors the ongoing importance of Tacoma as a port city while continually emphasizing the city’s geographical setting. Renwick’s deft balancing of the manmade city and the region’s natural ecosystems illuminate range and qualities of beauty that inform our day-to-day life in Tacoma. Renwick’s dichotomy also serves a gentle but eloquent reminder of the fleeting and miniscule qualities of human endeavor.

The soundtrack, written and performed by Lori Goldston, reflects the dignity of the port’s activities and reinforces Renwick’s vision of Tacoma as an vital hub of industrial activity set at the edge of a stunningly beautiful coastline.

-Rock Hushka

Curator of Contemporary and Northwest Art

Tacoma Art Museum