Picture 1

James Bowen

8 March - 4 April 2010 in the Square² Gallery

JAMES BOWEN
8 March – 4 April 2010
Untitled [23.10.09]  2009
DVD
Duration: 54:59 minutes, looped
Courtesy the artist

In his work Untitled [23.10.09], James Bowen examines the role of the artist as editor. The picture is a kaleidoscopic, mirrored space, and the screen is treated like a canvas. An abstract ground is meticulously constructed from rainbow coloured tape, onto which the artist places and arranges a series of found objects – old viewfinders, a plastic slinky, a rubrics cube, building blocks – and found images. Making explicit the process of editing, the work is a hand-made performance. Its low-fi production, and the presence of the artist’s hand in almost every screen, suggests the scene is being set prior to action taking place. Soon, however, we realise the action is in the scene arrangement.  

Rather than telling a story, Untitled [23.10.09] presents a collection of visual cues. Almost lolly-like in appearance, these brightly coloured plastic objects play multiple roles: the characters in a small stage performance, the marks on a canvas, and props from another world of play. Conventional roles are reversed; reflected into three dimensions, the patterns become object-like in this work, while the objects are treated almost as shapes, or marks on a canvas. Untitled [23.10.09] is the final instalment in a year long project consisting of around fifteen video works. Each considered a different aspect of studio based practice, and context of making and editing.

James Bowen gradated from Wellington’s Massey University School of Fine Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2009. This year he has returned to complete his Masters degree. He works across a range of media, including film and installation, and has exhibited in Wellington and in Auckland.