FOUR CHANNEL MOVING IMAGE INSTALLATION

Kiss My Nauman

Originally commissioned by Jarvis Cocker for the Meltdown Festival he curated at the Southbank Centre, London in 2007. Kiss My Nauman is a four channel video installation that references Art Make-Up, by American video artist Bruce Nauman, made forty years earlier.

“For me the beauty of this piece is that it captures the ritualistic preparation that takes place before a rock show. The four protagonists apply their make-up in real time & there is a wonderful sense of calm & contemplation – heightened by the sense of an implied, impending performance.” – Jarvis Cocker

Forsyth & Pollard cast the world’s longest running Kiss tribute band, Dressed To Kill, in the place of Nauman. Filmed in a single 47 minute take, each member meticulously applies their character make-up; Ash as The Star Child, Gary as The Demon, Trevor as Space Ace and Ian as The Cat Man. The resulting work is a compelling combination of reconstruction and revision, an oddly beautiful one-liner, a double-take of sorts and regardless of whether you ‘get’ the Nauman reference – a mesmerising experience.

Walking After Acconci (production still

Walking After Acconci (production still

The work was originally exhibited as four large projections within a purpose-built black projection cube at the Royal Festival Hall for the duration of Cocker’s Meltdown, which also featured live performances from a diverse range of artists including Devo, Motörhead, Iggy & The Stooges, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Jesus & Mary Chain. The artists have subsequently produced a 4:3 version of the piece to be exhibited as a four screen installation on Sony cube monitors.