Tuesday 2 November 2010

three short works in time




I went to see Andy Holden perform Three Short works in Time on Wednesday 20th October. It was a hybrid artwork combining sculpture, film and live musical performance. Some of the works, I felt, were greatly enhanced by the  live musicians and the artist participation. The musical accompaniment gave a real poignancy to the footage shown, and at times an unusual humour. The performance element made the work feel more realised, like more of an event or happening. There was a sense of nostalgia to the footage shown which was very affecting.

Some of the other works, which Holden referred to as "in progress," to me felt slightly flat. The repetition of the footage and music felt slightly thin by the end. One piece, involving a child's toy that channelled spinning marbles through a series of platforms, really suffered because of the way Holden chose to frame the camera on the performance. The message Holden might have been trying to send about the marbles' descent, I felt, would have been much better expressed if the audience could actually have seen them spinning and falling.

I have included a link to a video of the piece which I thought was the most successful.

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