Gleaning Stories, Gleaning Change

Belle Yang & Eva Lothar: Two Artists Gleaning

Belle and Eva are two artists who recently fell in love with each other's work before they met and found they were artistic soulmates. Belle is a landscape artist and children's book author and illustrator. Eva is a filmmaker who lives in Paris and was in this area working on new releases of her two lyrical documentaries about Cannery Row and Moss Landing. Belle told Eva she ought to come gleaning while she was here.

Listen

[Once the audio is playing, click and drag across the volume bars to change volume. Initial volume set to 80%.]

Belle on Eva's Films

Eva made a film about Cannery Row, "Street of the Sardine," in the late 1960s, but Belle saw a copy only recently. She was delighted by its poetry ... and more.

Belle's Manchurian Stories

Belle Yang writes childrens books as well as stories based on the experiences of her father and his ancestors in China. One of the reasons Belle decided to come gleaning was to experience the sounds, smells, colors, and textures of work in the fields, so that she could tell her father's stories better.

Eva on Gleaning

Belle told Eva she should come gleaning before she returned to Paris.

Around Paris, there are huge apricot orchards. She had told Belle of seeing the undersized fruit gasolined and burned in huge heaps.

Eva Lothar on "The Gleaners and I."

Agnes Varda's [on-YES vare-DA] film, called "Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse" in French, was an important inspiration for the Gleaning Stories Project. I asked Lothar about its reception in France and about ongoing gleaning there.

The one type of gleaning showcased in Varda's film that is popular in Paris is "found art," says Lothar, including what she describes as "deviated machinery into artwork."

Eva Lothar on Her Own Films

Eva's film "Street of the Sardine," filmed nearly 40 years ago, opens the Steinbeck Festival this year. She returned to this area from Paris to work on the new releases of that film and of another about the transformation of Moss Landing, "Yesterday's Shore, Tomorrow's Morning."