seal time

2026

Single channel video with sound, 16:24 mins.

Back-projected on hanging screen, with soft furniture.

School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California

Schmidt's video installations invite the viewer to tune their attention to the pace of the ocean and its inhabitants. Through messy action-camera video of an extended encounter with two harbor seals, this piece settles into the rhythm of these shy but curious creatures. What can be learned physically, visually, relationally, by observing from a polite distance, by following their lead, by breathing into seal-time?