History of Histories, 2008-9
(6 min excerpt)
15 min video, DVD loop, stereo sound
editors: Collin McDonald & Tim Bains
The detritus of everyday existence is explored in History of Histories. This work represents a turning point in terms of understanding the meaning of ‘transformation’ and what it represents in my performances: the open ended narratives and looped video sequencing, and the idea of continuity inherent to the cyclicity of decay and rebirth; events that spiral, or are linear in perpetual cycles of renewal and recycle. As a three-chapter video piece it displays diverse time sequences within a double screen image. Egg droplets horizontally penetrate pools of cooking oil; lumps of bubbling paprika also glide across the screen to the tune of distorted industrial kitchen and traffic sounds. From these scenes my hand emerges in flashes before becoming the dominant image. It looks like a roasted chicken, or a fetus with a knife, cleaning its own afterbirth in a simultaneous reference to flaying, transformation, concealment and elaboration. An abstracted view of the body, it is laced with violent undertones, exploring a fecund and abject aesthetic. Whilst playing with processes of butchery to make reference to death, this work is also laden with the symbolism of new life through the use of the egg.
