greg jenkins

synopsis: Motor Motor Blue chases the sounds and rhythms of an Appalachian community after grief, following a rising spirit from an old mine shaft, through a frantic car race, to high above the mountains.

exhibitions: 82,83 at Giovanni’s Room (solo show)

screenings: New Orleans Film Festival, REDCAT, Chicago Underground Film Festival, Iowa City International Documentary Festival, Parallel Vienna

reviews:

”Motor Motor Blue abruptly opens to a silent, eerie scene of an underground mine narrative ride. The camera points ahead as the railcar moves along through the ride. The audience is taken through a journey of clips of various things that creator Greg Jenkins dedicated to his late Uncle Gordie, like late nights at the dirt oval race track with only the roar of engines echoing through the cold night air, and the early morning serenity of thick fog creeping through the Appalachian mountainside as coal trucks weave through the mountain roads hauling their cargo. Jenkins’ use of prolonged silent shots brings a solemn awareness that life continues after death, but not without the raw emptiness left behind. Motor Motor Blue shows what’s left of a person that’s no longer there, whose absence leaves us in reverent silence with the places and experiences reminiscent of Gordie.”
- Van Le, Antigravity Mag

”Greg Jenkins’ MOTOR MOTOR BLUE is similarly complex in its mix of onscreen text and location shots, this time in the Appalachian Mountains. The work begins in an underground cave and ends in a natural history museum; between these bookends are reflections on the death of Jenkins’ uncle, a sequence about auto racing, and some particularly beautiful shots of clouds.”
- Ben Sachs, Cine-File Mag

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