First exibited at Presentation House/Polygon Gallery in 2000, this looping narrative is centered around a conversation between drivers at a traffic stop.
Set at night, a traffic intersection emanates from a central 360° projector (that the artist designed and fabricated) outwards onto all the walls of the gallery. Projected into two vehicles at each side of the panorama, two strangers (video), can be seen paused 'momentarily' at a red light at a traffic intersection. To the fore, motion-blurred images and sound of passing traffic flash by. Time has been manipulated by the artist, atenuated into a 15 minute partially gestural narrative. What would have been a fleeting, casual exchange between two strangers has been transformed into a strange slowness, as if time has warped around them; affecting both their dialogue and gestures.
Narrative summary
Diegesis:
Joe vies for Nan's attention, who finally, reluctantly, unrolls her window. As Nan studies Joe, he asks about a strange object in the back of her vehicle. A fragmented exchange continues until Joe seemingly unravels, hand slowly moves up to cover his mouth, and he remains frozen, eyes widening, as if he has seen his environs clearly for the first time. This filmic moment is slowed down to a few frames a second, his shock and disorientation thus focalized within the timeframe of the work. As this happens, Nan says "you know, it can lift you out of anything, launch you in ways you've never imagined, don't ever forget that, don't get sucked in...". After some moments, having absorbed Nan's words in relation to the vista, Joe gains composure. He gazes back at Nan with a knowing smile and then out toward the traffic behind them.
(fade out, loop).
(This work was based on a real experience the artist had enroute to her studio, while sitting at a traffic intersection: a stranger in the car next to her vied for her attention, was emotional, and started asking questions "what is that?!" about the 360° projecter (of the work Swell) that was loaded into the back of her hatchback. As the light then changed to green, before she could answer, Fiona was reminded of how urban speeds encourage insularity and distraction, influencing terms of engagement.)
Production, editing play;
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/gear:
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.
