“Chasing Lawler”
real time video installation
2010
The piece produced for this exhibition is a reference of a reference. The original work I based my piece on is a photograph by Louise Lawler entitled “In and Out of Place”.
Lawler is an artist and photographer. From the late 1970s onwards, Lawler's work has focused on the presentation and marketing of artwork. Much of this work consists of photographs of other peoples' artwork and the context in which it is viewed. Examples of Lawler's photographs include images of paintings hanging on the walls of a museum, paintings on the walls of an art collector's opulent home, artwork in the process of being installed in a gallery, and sculpture in a gallery being viewed by spectators. “In and Out of Place” consists of a photograph of Andy Warol’s “Brillo Box” resting on the floor of the collector’s home, near rug with a similar color schemeand a black leather chair
My intention was not to prerecord a video but have the video create itself unscripted during the opening of the exhibition. I wanted the viewers to without their knowledge become active participants in the work. A color reproduction of the Lawler piece is hung low on the upstairs gallery wall. A video camera is placed unassumingly near the piece and records viewers walking past the piece through the duration of the opening. The recorded image is projected in real time as a live feed in the lower gallery. When the viewers witness the projected image they soon realize they were unknowingly a participant in the production of the final piece.
