Bag in Tree, Socratic Western, and Shaman
My work is concerned with the pleasures and absurdities of communication by using the conventions and techniques of stage, film and television. One recent installation entitled "Bag in Tree" used a technique that a Foley artist* would use but in a slightly modified way. The audio for this video is recorded from a separate location and is made into a sound effects record. The record and video are in-sync on the first play but as time passes the sound and visuals get out of sync. The transient nature of this sync problem serves to remind the viewer that he or she may not always be able to believe what they see.
The performance piece "Socratic Western" created by my two-person collaborative "Nosey Parker" uses a hybrid form to communicate. This work is a history lesson in the form of a slideshow lecture and one act play complete with a live panel discussion. The panelists are art professionals playing the part of actors portraying Cowboys and a Native American. We used multimedia and stage props such as a live horse pulling a carriage and simple costume paper hats and headbands to give a feeling of a play or movie set. The photographic documentation of the performance acts as a film still.
I have also executed numerous solo performances as the "Shaman" which is a theatrical avant-garde character dressed in a white paper costume and wooden clog shoes. The "Shaman" performs acts of absurdist communication by speaking nonsensical gibberish poetry and animal like utterances through an amplified bullhorn. At the same time, the "Shaman" moves through the audience in order to direct his tirade at specific objects and individuals in the space.
*A Foley artist watches a film and makes the noises that are not recorded with the dialogue such as footsteps, door slams or gunshots. This sound is recorded on to a separate audio track called a Foley track. The Foley track is in sync and is added to the final mix of the film sound.