A new body of work exhibited at The Art House Wakefield from 25th May to 17th July.
The exhibition has been archived by The Art House using 3D scanning technology and can be viewed online.
For more information please visit the [on becoming a ghost…] exhibition page on The Art House website.
Please note: the video and audio below are best experienced through headphones. All links open in a new tab.
Video description:
The video begins with a square-format still image depicting rectangular beams of light from a window cast on a wall. The shadow of a figure is seen to the right of the frame, blocking some of the light. The whole image is grayscale and soft focus, with light lens flare adding further distortion. The overall effect is ghostly and indistinct, with a sense of movement. The title “[on becoming a ghost…]” appears in white text at the bottom of the screen. The video fades to black.
The ensuing video is made up of three square-format moving image sections, titled “Scuff Marks”, “On Becoming a Ghost” and “Dancing Light”. Each section opens with the title written in capitalised white font in the centre of the screen against a black background. Each section ends with a fade to black. Throughout the video a series of sentences fade in and out of the bottom of the screen. All words that appear on screen are simultaneously spoken aloud by the artist in a neutral female voice. The full transcript is provided in a separate document.
The first section of the video shows a moving image of a rough white interior wall with grey scuff marks just above midway up. The camera faces the wall squarely. The marks are a series of short diagonal lines, most facing left to right with a few on the left side going the opposite direction, creating a criss-cross effect. A shaft of light that takes up half the height of the frame falls diagonally from the top right corner to the bottom left. The light dances and flickers across the wall as something moving out of shot casts shadows in front of it.
The second section of the video shows the hazy shadow of tree branches moving in the breeze behind a translucent screen, backlit by a strong natural light. The shadows are tinged a muted blue-green colour, and the rest of the image is yellow toned. Faint black lines sit horizontally across the screen. Sunlight glimmers on the top right hand side of the screen. Where the leaves cross over each other, the shadows deepen.
The third section shows a tightly framed wide beam of light dancing across a white wall. The light is strongest in the top right corner of the image and falls away in feathery motions diagonally to the bottom left, sometimes flashing across the whole frame. Dents, imperfections and other textures can be seen in the plaster of the wall. The light slowly fades to grey before the whole image fades to black and the video ends.
Transcript of voiceover:
Scuff Marks
a trail of scuff marks
small dark smudgy remnants
the proof we existed
the proof we were there
- - -
On Becoming A Ghost
it takes longer than you’d think
to become a ghost
painfully slow and monotonous
being left behind
excluded
gradually erased
‘just stay home and let the rest of us live our lives’
to bastardise an old saying
‘If a we stay locked away forever
and nobody hears our screams
do we even exist anymore?’
my life is not worth less
my life is not worthless
‘but we just need to get back to normal’
normality doesn’t exist
it’s nothing more than a divisive and condescending myth
a comforting conceit in the supposed superiority of your normalness
a justification not to care
‘can’t you just stop being so dramatic’
My ghost will be filled with vengeance and wrath
My ghost will haunt you
- - -
Dancing Light
a shaft of light
piercing through the solitude
dancing playful
across the painted white plaster of the wall
gradually it fades…
leaving behind
no trace
it ever existed.
- - -
Description of soundscape:
A collection of layered oscillating sounds. Some of the sounds are a lower pitch with a dull muffled effect. Other sounds are more metallic and resonant. There is an echo effect on some sounds, and others sound as though they are underwater. The different sounds phase in and out at different times. Some have a rapid tempo while others have a more steady pulsating effect. Later, a sound reminiscent of a piano/synth comes up, going up and down a scale, but the notes blend into one another and are indistinct. The different sounds appear to come from different locations in a three-dimensional space, and they cross over each other as they pan from ear to ear.