faltering repetition (2000)

Set at night, a traffic intersection emanates from a central 360 degree projector that the artist designed and fabricated, outwards onto all the walls of the gallery.
Projected into this panorama are two strangers, each in their cars, paused 'momentarily' at a red light at a traffic intersection. The moment is extenuated by the artist into a 15 minute exchange.
.
The traffic passes in flashes before them. One driver initiates a conversation with the other driver.
What would have been a fleeting encounter between two strangers is transformed into a focused exchange
- primarily in the form of gesture.



Seamus Kealy as "Joe"                 Nancy Robertson (Corner Gas)as "Nan" as she says : ""


Joe vies for Nan's attention, who finally, reluctantly, unrolls her window. They exchange comments, as if having a conversation, though the dialogue is sparse and disjointed: relayed primarily through body language.
Some moments pass as Nan studies Joe, comments and asks Joe questions, though we are not privy to the gist of their
fragmented exchange. Joe unravels after some moments, hand to mouth, frozen, eyes widening at the urban environ before him.
The actual filmic moment is slowed down to a few frames a second at this point, attenuating his shock and seeming
disorientation. After some moments, having come to some resolution, a smile breaks and his facial expression denotes bliss, he gazes back at Nan with warmth. (fade out, loop).


This work was based on a real experience the artist had while sitting at a traffic intersection, while a stranger in the car next to her, vied for her attention, was emotional, and started asking questions "what is that?!" about the 360º projecter (of the work Swell). Reluctant to engage, given the traffic and rain, Fiona was reminded
of how urban speeds encourage insularity and distraction, influencing terms of engagement.



Production

The (obtuse, unconventional) narrative is a time-synced exchange composed of chop-edited sampled fragments
constructed from two longer unrelated narratives) and re-arranged and manipulated into a new chronology.
The slow motion sequences have been created by using an old-school fly-wheel, analogous to the fluctuating velocities of 'scratching' vinyl as it spins on a DJ's turntable. {Bowie Dj'd both on radio (CITR) and at a night club (Faces, Vancouver)in the 1080's before she started her BFA and production of her installations}. Layout

This piece uses five projectors. One (designed and built by the artist) projects the still, continuous 360 degree panorama.
This enveloping image is hazy and saturated with colour. A timed pair of slide projectors superimposes traffic, moving incrementally
before them as they wait at the red light. Two small video projectors cast the two subjects, superimposed into the two cars where they
would have appeared at this intersection. Because this installation is 360 degrees, the viewer is free to move about the room
and cast their attention in various directions.



Faltering Repetition at Polygon Gallery

all rights reserved/copyright fiona bowie 2024
This work was created in K'emk'emeláy (colonially known as Vancouver BC.),with gratitude
and acknowledgement of our host's nationhood; of their unceded, ancestral and current territories:
the Musqueam, Squamish, and Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.