Wall of Death, 2001

Single-channel video
Black and white, sound
2:40 min.

Collection New Line Cinema, Los Angeles

Exhibitions

Halflife, Nevada Art Museum, Reno, 2004
Videodrome, 27 International Artists, Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa
Barbara, 2004
25th Anniversary, The LA Years, Part II, Christopher Grimes Gallery,
Santa Monica, 2004
In Action, Henry Urbach Architecture, New York, 2001
Wall of Death, La Box, Bourges, 2001

In the carnival act “Wall of Death,” first performed in the 1930s, a motorcyclist rides around the inside of a wooden drum, maintaining a delicate state of equilibrium between centrifugal force and gravity. The video is made up of a series of motion loops that become progressively shorter, creating the illusion of continuous motion: The rider is caught in a never-ending, never decelerating circle. The editing technique, inspired by the Kinetoscope films popular during the time the act was widely performed.

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