Adaptation

Set in a near-future New York City, Adaptation is a short science fiction film that depicts a waterlogged city utterly transformed by the traumatic consequences of today’s irresponsible politics and economics. In the wake of these transformations, day to day life carries on for a group of relief workers—essential workers—whose jobs bring them into this new New York. Shot on film and produced using largely analog special effects—scale-models, miniatures, and matte photographs—Adaptation eschews the slick computer generated imagery that powers so much contemporary video art in search of a less seamless and more poetic science fiction.

If the sea level rises drastically, it’s not inconceivable that New York will disappear beneath the waves. Josh Kline built a drowned city of the future using stylized scale models and miniatures, and filmed on 16mm. A bright orange boat sails through Manhattan, where buildings still tower above the water. There is no sign of life. The once-crowded streets have disappeared below the surface of the ocean.

The contemplations in the commentary are both poetic and somber—musings about the water, which is not only polluted with all the rubbish humanity produces, but also filled with disappointment and sadness.

Like a Noah’s Ark with humans as its only species, the solitary ship carries a small party of survivors. Everyone boards in full diving gear and is thoroughly disinfected. They chat over a beer and watch as the skyline of the ominously silent city seems to be sinking beneath the sea like a sunset.