Critical Writing Index

Ennui en note

by Mario Côté

24 Images, Winter 1991, no. 59, p. 57

Reviewing the 20th edition of Montreal's Festival international du nouveau cinéma et de la vidéo, the author suggests that, just as last year, it appears as if video is no longer relevant, or that the festival's organizers lack the enthusiasm which might bring the medium to life.

The author praises the late arrival of Godard's exploration of television in Histoire(s) du cinéma, and is taken by the expressive mobility of the camera exposing a New York afternoon in C'est vrai! by Robert Frank. Nino Rodriguez's Identities, an interview with Thomas Padgett, in which Rodriguez has edited out all the conversation leaving only dead air and producing a poignant yet simple video.

Comparing Marie André's Premier amour to Twin Peaks, the author is unconvinced by the somewhat clinical view which André takes to her idiosyncratic events, and dismisses the technical prowess of Wanting for Bridge as an attempt to obscure the piece's lack of real emotional effort. In The Way of Love, Sanja Ivekovic combines remembered images and Sufi rites in a poetic reflection.

While some pieces did interest the author, as a whole, the exhibition neither struck a note nor made an argument for the continued value of video art.

ITEM 1991.094 – available for viewing in the Research Centre

Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited

IdentitiesNino Rodriguez

Histoire(s) du cinémaJean-Luc Godard

C'est vraiRobert Frank

Sul Treno Belgrado-IstanbulLeonardo Celi

IdentitiesThomas Padgett

Canon: Taking to the StreetDara Birnbaum

Premier AmourMarie André

Twin PeaksDavid Lynch

Wanting for BridgeJoan Irene Staveley

The Way of LoveSanja Ivekovic

Heads or TailsDennis Day

The Colour TrilogyTerryn Flaxton