[hand processed in part, December 2012]
Looking Glass Insects takes its title from chapter three of Through the Looking Glass and its classic original illustrations by John Tenniel. Delighting in the act and play of observation the film finds a visual metaphor for the cinematic process in the antics of the original story; making use of magnifying glasses as an optical pun, pointing to the instruments used by both entomologists and filmmakers alike. Yet the insects of the story fade away, just as the observations that appear in the film's magnifying glass dissolve into darkness when tilted to reflect the "natural" world beyond the book.