Joe Hambleton: Third Mind

November 22 – December 21, 2013
Opening on Friday November 22, 5:30pm

Project Description

Inspired by the cut-up technique popularized by William Burroughs and Brion Gysin, Third Mind is a video series that utilizes randomization software to create and edit autobiographical video work. Third Mind consists of two video works: Days of Future Past and Behind the Fourth Wall, both intimately related to the artist’s own past and process.

For Days of Future Past the artist used this cut-up technique to alter his process of filmmaking. Filmed from the inside of a car and accompanied by a narrative voice-over, the video carries the spectator through a deserted city while familiar objects strangely begin to appear within the frame. Through these appearances, the very mechanisms of recollection are evoked as the “story” simultaneously unfolds. Memories of the past accompany delusions of the future, allowing a realization of the present.

In Behind the Fourth Wall, videos representing the artist’s past and present are randomly composed with his narrated memories and writings. Following an analysis of his previous video work, the artist determined his editing tendencies and scripted the software to imitate his own past work in reference to style, aesthetics, pacing, and shot selection. The end result is an experimental film that mimics his editing style while changing with each viewing.

“It is my attempt to find the perfect combination of image, dialogue and sound to represent a moment in my life. To utilize programming to take my work further than I am physically capable of. A work that is never finished, that may or may not find perfection, with or without my presence.” – Hambleton.

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