Synopsis

This video documents a performance piece that was conducted in 2012. The resulting video is one component in a larger installation that integrates video, performance and architectural sculpture. Shot on site at St Margaret’s Anglican Church in Winnipeg MB, the video incorporates an original piece of music by Winnipeg band Alanadale, a thirty member Men’s choir, and a wooden bathtub. The video depicts a reimagining of the act of ablution, or ritual cleansing told through the lens of the Greek myth of Sisyphus. As the band begins to play, the artist, dressed as a labourer, enters the chancel of the church, undresses and proceeds to thoroughly wash his body.  The video climaxes as the thirty member masked men’s choir erupts into a revolutionary chorus and the bather gently slips under the water not to resurface. The repetitive nature of the performance, coupled with the looping of the video, and the Sisyphus narrative fleshed out through song, draw attention to the beauty and absurdity of a utopian impulse realized through labour.

Shooting Format

Languages

Additional Details

Available Subtitle

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Screening Formats

  • DVD,
  • AppleProRes,
  • H.264

Credits

Provided By

  • Video Pool Media Arts Centre