Subdued Archive (2022)

Subdued Archive is a performance for video and sound composition that forms an archive of my thoughts about anxiety using iconic and indexical representation. 

The artwork is a visual response to the original contents of six audio journals recorded between the Summer and Winter of 2021. The video has two distinct moving images: A scaled-down close-up of a burning cigarette that rests in my mouth and an extreme close-up of my lips as I speak the original words from my audio journals. Although, these words are muted, and that archive is subdued in favour of performative action. An iconic representation of anxiety is performed through actions like the incessant flick of the tongue, the flossing of teeth, and a painful smile. The cigarette screen similarly represents the duration of my audio journals on this subject. As time passes, I am reminded of my fears, like being judged, or dreaming that my teeth are falling out. The sound composition solidifies the connection to my audio journals by compiling and amplifying ambient noises that were present at the place and time of recording the journals. The audio also includes a short portion of spoken word extracted from one journal. This audio clip serves to summarize the subject without revealing the entire journal. 

​

Subdued Archive confronts the viewer with bitten, bloody lips, a blue-toned image, and a largely missing voice. In this way, the obscured archive is a means to reconstruct a memory such that the viewer may identify with the subject. 

​

Run time: 5 minutes