Tacita Dean: JG
Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles
Through January 26, 2014
JG, the latest work in film from British-born, Berlin-based artist Tacita Dean, is inspired by her correspondence with British author J.G. Ballard and the connections between his short story, “The Voice of Time,” and Robert Smithson’s landmark earthwork, Spiral Jetty.
Shot entirely on 35mm anamorphic film, JG utilizes Dean’s patented system for aperture gate masking. The labor intensive, decidedly analogue process allows the artist to expose and re-expose negatives, live on location, for a meditative, collage-like effect that melds images of the barren Utah and Central California landscapes with forms of mountains, planets, pools and Smithson’s Spiral Jetty.
Spoken text, drawn from Ballard’s written work and correspondence between Dean and the author, accompanies the film. Dean’s films have been exhibited since the mid 1990s. They focus on subjects such as artists, architecture, and landscape, and are characterized by long, static shots, stillness, and a contemplative evocation of place. JG is being shown at the Hammer Museum’s video gallery in Los Angeles through January 26.
