TAKERS, 2022
Looping film. 3m 3s.
"It is impossible not to be drawn into the fight that perpetually unfolds on the projection wall at the centre of the darkened gallery. The grunts and smacks of two men engaging in an unrelenting, no-holds-barred fistfight resonate throughout the very room they were recorded in. Onscreen, fists and limbs puncture drywall. The holes, still visible behind the screen, swiftly cast the gallery as both a film set and an art space. ‘Hound Dog’ (1952), a song about a deadbeat lover originally recorded by American R&B singer and songwriter Big Mama Thornton, provides something of a cinematic score, though her voice is mostly drowned out by the coincidental violence. The title of the exhibition ‘Takers’ references both snatching opportunists and recording artists who capture a perfect take by re-recording the imperfect ones. In either sense, the act of taking results in a void or an erasure. With this cinematic presentation and its musical accompaniment American visual artist, Nikita Gale uses language to suggest an allegorical read, which spins into a vertiginous view of history that feels both objective and abject." -Reuben Merringer, thisistomorrow
Installation views from LAXART, Los Angeles, CA, 2022. Photos: Reuben Diaz.
