Though their work is grounded in cinema, it goes beyond an understanding of what film is, taking into consideration the architecture and conditions of the performing / viewing situation and the physical and emotional presence of light itself.
Mark Webber
The images we consume cinematically are formed so subtly from light's interaction with film, its recorded dialogue with silver halides suspended in gelatin emulsion. The resulting images that infect the screen produce unimaginable effects on self and psyche. Vibrations of varying hues create a dialogue with subconscious languages and longings of which many of us remain blissfully unaware. This is particularly true in the work of Sandra Gibson and Luis Recoder.
The hand absorbs the light. Obscures, darkens. An opaque appearance in the field of light materializes the light. Discloses its light-ness. For light itself is not enough to show this. For light to show this it must be obscured, covered-over, withheld. It must be stopped, stopped-up, stopped-down in order to achieve the point of clearest resolution.
Sandra Gibson/Luis Recoder
Viewing Gibson and Recoder's film performances and installations is deeply immersive and the memory of their pieces always seems to remain purposefully abstract. Their collaboration is as much grounded in a manipulation of light, as it is in the cinematic, or indeed fine art practice as a whole. Through expert manipulation, light becomes their primary medium.
Projectors, glass, mist. Emanating. LIGHT. The performance begins, transient delicate shapes form and shift, delicate and subtle relationships emerge, nuance, repetition, form, movement, light, circles swirling, intense sound, light, consuming and immersive, changing, interacting, living, touching, engulfing, fluid. Allowing oneself to become consumed within the viewing process gives an opportunity to enjoy the unfamiliar and familiar. Pulsing, vibrating images are reminiscent of being, of space. I experienced a deep want; to be engulfed within the space of the piece. Before the realization that was my present state. How delicate the absence. A million paintings in light flicker before my eyes, each one a delicate yet physically manipulated reflection of existence. The rhythm and forms intensify yet somehow maintain ethereal translucence. One could not have planned for such an intense sensory invasion. A film seemingly of no subject, communicating with such impacted intensity.
The light dots continue to linger within self and psyche. Now somehow accepted as permanent residents. In unexpected moments many new films, experiences present themselves, from the initial flickers of the performance. The subsequent, residual repeats seem to bear no less emotional intensity. A connection, expanded. Joining, light on light form on form, intermingled textures, blur, the experience of lights and dots, consuming me without permission, constantly pounding. The material exposition somehow produces flickering translucent beauty. Eyes tire and relax, visual experiences differ, double visions, altered spatial realities begin and cease to exist. Interesting dialogues in light and shade; as riveting as any great speaker, or mind in conversation; not weighed by language. I enjoy the sublime extended ethereality.
In the darkened theatre I saw a beautiful film performance, the content of which is constantly changing and deepening, revealing itself as an acutely aware reflection upon relationships. As interestingly considered creative interplay. Which encourages us as audience to step out of Plato's cave and engage fully and with more awareness, to reflect within our own ideas upon the multiplicity of possibility for cinematic experience.
Sandra Gibson and Luis Recoder's work has been featured in the Whitney Biennial and numerous major festivals. For this edition of the Independent Film Show, Untitled will be running a little over 5 hours as an installation beginning at 17:00 and then transition into performance beginning at 22:30.
Yvonne Maxwell
Note: This text is a slightly amended section from writing in which I explored from a phenomenological point of view my own personal experiences of light within a cinematic context, specifically artist film practices. An account of Sandra Gibson and Luis Recoder's untitled installation / performance at the ICA in London in 2006 formed part of this writing.