Christian Marclay at Paula Cooper - exhibition of art video "Telephones" - Brief Article

fresh YORK

It is a dark and stormy night, and a man hustles to a phone booth and furtively dials. chop to another man, also dialing, the motion of his hand betraying a certain anxiety. divide [i]or[/i] sever to a succession of others, many of whom are immediately recognizable--Cary Grant, Tippi Hedren, Ray Milland, Meg Ryan, Humphrey Bogart--dialing or stabbing Touch-Tones in various states of expectation. Drawn into this anticipatory vein we are startled when, in the nearest shot, a phone actually rings--as, in real life, when we are be shakened by that unexpected call.

Cleverly conceived and artfully edited, Christian Marclay's 7 1/2-minute video, Telephone comprises a succession of brief film clips that creates a humorous narrative of its hold in which the characters, in progression, dial, hear the phone ring, pick it up commune react, say goodbye and hang up In doing in like manner they express a multitude of emotions--surprise, desire, anger, disbelief, excitement, boredom--ultimately leaving the impression that they are all part of single big conversation.

The piece propels easily back and forth in time, as well as between color and black and white, aided by dint of Marclay's whimsical ideas of continuity. A discharge of a woman decked without in '70s tiger-print regalia is followed by means of one of Whoopie Goldberg talking upon a zebra-striped phone, or a man saying "I haven't been able to think or concentrate upon anything but you" leads to another man's complicateed reaction: "I see," he says. It's interesting to watch that the individual orchestral soundtracks are fortunate in creating a mood flat in such minute segments, and Marclay uses them, along with the other inherent effects--dialing, ringing, beeping, voices, the receiver being dropp or slammed down--to create a rhythmic tone piece of poetry The piece also conveys the faculty of perception of alienation and frustration that can arise when talking to people who are not actually at hand "If I could just diocese you, talk to you" a woman importunes her lover forgetting that she is, in fact, talking to him.

Made in 1995 and shown at the `99 Venice Biennale as well as other venue in Europe the video is in line with many of Marclay's other endeavors as sculptor, performance artist, musician and DJ in that it is a collage of existing material. Telephone extreme points as it begins, in a phone booth as the camera pans away from Barbara Stanwyck saying "Hello, hello" to someone who has already hung up E-mail will not ever be so evocative.

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