Pane

An electronic 'tapping' device draws attention to a small peephole located on the surface of an otherwise dirty window pane. The nature of the sound is ambiguous, falling somewhere between an expression of human urgency, and a stream of machinic Morse Code.

Peering through the hole reveals a small LCD display that cycles between two sequences of archival footage. The first documents a crowd of customers jostling to stare into a shop window, whilst the second documents the gaze of a mannequin seemingly staring out onto the street.

The repeated cycle is as follows:

i) Long period of tapping
ii) Consumer footage (b&w)
iii) Short period of tapping
iv) Mannequin footage (colour)

The frame-rate of the footage is computer controlled and variable. These machinically subjective modes of duration contribute to variously nuanced readings of the work. Pane explores the movement of the sign in the process of semiosis, utilising kinetic, acoustic and visual materials.

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