Pantheon Sunday 18 February 2007

Suzie Attiwill

A visit to rome, to an idea, an image, a building I had encountered through publication only – the Pantheon. Arriving, waiting in front of two enormous bronze doors – closed – amongst a growing crowd. Slowly the doors began to open. Without thought, I pulled out my digital camera and checked if it had video function, something I had not used before. I wanted to record what happened materially, spatially, temporally – to gather the excess of the encounter; to expose myself to sensations as distinct from my preconceptions; to strangeness as distinct from the familiar. This is the space of my current research. In the exhibition, this footage is projected onto a window. Situated here, light transforms the footage making it visible and invisible at different times of the day and night; imageless at times; spatially encountered inside and outside. This is an attempt to keep the footage open, expansive and receptive; to resist filling it with meaning, making it an artefact of my own projection. A colleague who assisted in the process of transferring the footage to DVD suggested a number of edits I could make. I was interested to see what he wanted to do, what he would produce. These are also included in the exhibition as artefacts produced through an encounter, as productions of reception (pantheon 2007, ramesh ayyar). Between the projected footage and these artefacts, the space invites the potential to produce more pantheons.

Images:
1: Photograph: Installation photograph at SASA Gallery, 2007. Suzie Attiwill
2: Photograph: Installation photograph at SASA Gallery, 2007. Suzie Attiwill
3: Photograph: Footage from pantheon sunday 18 february 2007. Suzie Attiwill