Pine Barrens
Nancy Holt
1975
Pine Barrens, New Jersey
16 mm film, color, sound
Duration: 30 minutes, 34 seconds
© Holt/Smithson Foundation, Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York. Distributed by Electronic Arts Intermix, New York
Pine Barrens is a dynamic portrait of the New Jersey wilderness, shot by Holt as she ventures through a strikingly desolate landscape. The film is underscored by the music of Bill Patton’s Pine Barrens Trio and interviews with local “pineys”—people who hold both pride and vexation for the fruitless land they call home. As they relate their struggles to make a living and describe supernatural encounters with the “Jersey Devil,” Holt’s lens intimately investigates the site, revealing the unexpected beauty of its details.
