On display @ Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow until Sun 26 Feb

Plot Point / Nicolas Provost / US / 2007 / 15mins

Pruitt-Igoe Falls / Cyprien Gaillard / US / 2009 / 7mins

Lucia / Joaquín Cociña/Cristóbal León/Niles Atallah / Chile / 2007 / 4mins

Luis and the Wolf / Joaquín Cociña/Cristóbal León/Niles Atallah / Chile / 2008 / 4mins

What is and isn’t art is a question much argued over, particularly in this generation of modern, abstract and peculiar pieces (see Tracey Emin’s My Bed). With video art, the crossover between cinema and gallery is just as blurry; but why do these pieces have to belong to a single grouping? This collection of award-winning short films, widely commended by film and art critics alike, explore the different manifestations of isolationism.

The methodical, plodding journey through these shorts acts not only as a disturbing oasis of calm and serenity, but also induces a sensation of self-reflection. Provost’s voyeuristic Plot Point weighs an importance on insignificance, mixing an empowering awareness of self-worth with a dramatic undercurrent emphasising the validity of everybody’s actions. This is contrasted with the controlled turbulence of Gaillard’s Pruitt-Igoe Falls. Here, the eruption-come-waterfall of dust becomes a metaphor for the often frenzied approach to youth, that (predominantly) slowly settles into a calm and eventually tranquil routine. While both Lucia and Luis and the Wolf have jarring and unsettling images, the fact that the fearful inner-voice doesn’t create havoc but rather restores order, represents that our frequent repressions should be acknowledged and possibly celebrated. What these films then portray is the pride that should be felt with ideals that have previously been suppressed and muzzled.

Featuring as part of the Glasgow Film Festival 2012.