Chase

Artist Statement

Similar to the sound of a band or symphony warming up, the house lights going down in a theatre trigger a learned neuro-chemical response that readies the body for a dark, reverie-laden space where spectators slip into their seats as though slipping into bed. The slow extinguishment of light performs an act of transformation in which the everyday is temporarily suspended in preference of another reality. When the lights come up it is as though a hypnotist has snapped his fingers, bringing the long moment of restful, augmented attentiveness to an end.

Chase is a collaborative video installation by Megan Wilson and Blaine Campbell. The videos subject is the 1000 lb Czechoslovakian crystal chandelier hanging above the balcony at the centre of Vancouvers Orpheum Theatre. The chandeliers lights slowly progress through an endless on-off cycle, a glowing, pulsing beacon, the crystals multitude of facets catching and refracting light. Often ambiguous, the result appears to transform back and forth between some alien, night-time cityscape and an ornate, gothic behemoth.