H.M.V.S., Super 8mm digital transfer, 7 min, 2017
At Half Moon Bay, situated on the south-eastern part of Port Philip
Bay a film crew is setting up to shoot a scene from the Australian
drama ‘Holding the Man’. The scene overlooks the last colonial
breastwork monitor battleship, the decommissioned HMVS Cerberus.
In 1993 the Cerberus suffered major structural collapse after
rusting deck supports and stanchions gave way. Razor blades were
used directly on the film negative, removing layers of emulsion and
further eroding the Cerberus from material existence.