Chain Smoker, Tap Dancer was Forsyth & Pollard’s first video work, made in the first few months of their collaboration. An early experiment in self-portraiture, the work is an entertaining cross-breed of teenage notions of ‘rock and roll cool’ and seaside amateur dramatics. It formed part of their BA degree show at Goldsmiths in 1995. Made for two monitors, one screen is presented at floor level, showing Pollard’s feet, life-size, tap dancing. The other, at standing head height, features Forsyth’s head, again life-size, chain smoking. Both were shot in a single take and play on a continuous loop, the soundtrack provided by the clap-clap-clap of Pollard’s silver tap shoes.
