How I would probably do it, 2004
4 minutes, miniDV
Monologue performed to video camera. Shown as single channel video on CRT monitor with speakers, on a plinth.
This work exists as an edition of 5 (+AP) and is represented in the public collection of the City of Kingston-Upon-Hull, at the Ferens Art Gallery.
This is a performance shot from two camera angles and edited together. Camera one begins with a close-up of the artists face. A monologue is delivered to the camera as the figure moves back into a long-shot – first pushing himself back on a wheeled office chair, then standing before stripping to the waist. The monologue is a self-reflexive running commentary on how best to proceed with the performance-to-camera as it is being made. This cuts to camera two which is a tight crop of the standing figures naked torso which then proceeds to writhe about. A subtle difference in visual quality is explained by the continuing live monologue as resulting from a different kind of camera a change in lighting. The monologue takes the gyrations of the naked torso to an absurd, deadpan climax before a cut is made back to camera one and piece ends.