The tobacco field fable is a three-part short film. it was shut in artists Gabi Kricheli’s studio, which is normally used for sculpting. for this project, he converted the space into an autonomic ecosystem. using a lighting system that is usually used for underground urban farming with the timer was set to a 23 hours cycle, to mimic the movement of the sun from sunrise to sunset, and a simple sprinkler system to create rain., by that creating a space that has a separated time zone and weather then Earth. In that singular environment, kricheli planted a tobacco field and used it as a location for filming. Adjusting the production time table to time in the field. The work was filmed for 8 months, alongside the life of the tobacco plants, from creation to death.

Part 1 Make
The first part of the work is a documentation of an action performed by kricheli. During 36 hours kricheli converted his studio into a closed ecosystem and then planted a young tobacco field in it. We follow kricheli while he installs lighting and water systems than covers the floor with 12 tons of soil and finally planting rows of young tobacco plants. When he is done he turns on the lighting system, generating the first sunrise, and leaves.

Part 2 Nurtur
The second part starts as we follow the musician Kinoro Shel Rothschild (K.S.R) while he walks through an industrial era and enters Kricheli’s studio. He sets up his equipment next to the young tobacco plants, connects the speakers and starts performing. He plays a music piece that he composed aseptically for the project. From that point on, the work behaves as a music video in which we see K.S.R. plays to the plants and the plants, in response grows until they reach full size and bloom. When the field is at its peak. K.S.R stops the music, packs his gear and leave the studio.

Part 3 Observe
The third part follows Israeli artist Youval Rimon. as he also approaches the studio, opens the door and gets inside, he sets a small camp next to the fully grown plants and starts a bonfire. as the day ends He falls asleep and spends the night in the field. When he wakes up he finds himself in a dry field, what was once a vivid environment but now is dead. He pulls a video camera from his bag and starts shooting the dead field that surrounds him. From that point, the work becomes an indoor nature documentary that takes an outside look at the last days of a once very much alive place.

Directed by Gabi Kricheli (Israel)