When I leave my house in rural Nova Scotia, I often encounter black marks that twist and turn along the road, weaving their way through my community and daily route into the city. While many find this illegal activity annoying and disturbing, I’ve become increasingly intrigued by the form and intricacy of the marks left by a vehicle’s tires when they’re ‘squealed’ in order to ‘lay a patch.’

Who makes these marks? How are they made, and what motivates the makers? What do these marks have to offer?

Based primarily in rural Nova Scotia, Burning Rubber weaves a predominantly male car culture together with artists and the curiosity of outsiders, ultimately stimulating larger questions about identity, creativity, gender, freedom, and how we decide what is valued and given meaning as art.

52 minutes