White Stag

Infrared video to DigiBeta 3 min, Diorama: 38cm x 48cm x 14 cm, various materials, drawing, 76.5cm x 69 cm, graphite on paper

A richly nuanced work developed out of Ovid's poem, The Metamorphosis, specifically the story of Diana and Actaeon, a long standing subject from Titian and Rembrandt onwards. As with Aerial Waller's work, the mythological past is not represented in opulence, but within the brutalist architecture of a London open air swimming pool, a photorealist graphite drawing from a photocopy and a miniature tableau of a grape twig, cigarette stubs and novelty lighter.    

A relationship is drawn between the three elements of the work through metamorphosis, from the 2D drawing, to the 3D tableau, to the 4D video. Each element has a strong narrative drive centred around recognition, mimicry and hope in the face of adversity. The drawing depicts a deer with a fallen antler, gazing upon a tree within a bleak landscape. The narrative suggests that the deer has recognised a similarity between the tree branch and his own fallen antler. It then becomes clear that this is not a deer, but a model of a deer faced towards a grape twig and cigarette stub. Initial understanding of both the scale and the nature of the subject are thrown into disarray, yet the landscape retains its initial romanticism. The three dimensional tableau brings the work back into a brutal realism, torn away from the fictional depiction that drawing can adopt, it is absolutely clear that this is a novelty lighter, a twig and a wooden board. 

Within the video work Aerial Waller finds a celebration of tiny moments of joy and fortitude, in the face of adversity; as exemplified by the central swimming scene, where a figure battles against both the cold and his poor swimming technique, yet continues to keep afloat on his journey across the frame. The video is shot on infra red equipment in daylight, an act of undoing an extra-human perception, a levelling of the technology in parallel to the curse Diana imposes on her voyeur, Actaeon.  

The nuance of the piece leads towards ideas of co-operativity and choice of entering into new trajectories of thought; to move from dependable modernity into the semi assigned space of the rural parkland, the deer park. It presents the battle of the soul away from sweet sadness towards the thrill and hope of entering new territory.  

Two figures, Diana and Daggers, meet at the brutalist swimming pool and discuss moving outside into the parkland, inhabited by deer. Daggers asks Diana "is this yours?" referring to an unidentified object. Daggers asks if they need permission to exit the designated area, Diana responds that permission is not necessary. In the finale Diana says to Douglas, "come on lets get to it!" and they recede into the suburban distance, across the concrete slabs, away from the parkland.

Cast: Douglas Park, Diana Stone

Exhibitions: 
Traversées, Muse d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris,France, 2002
This place you see has no size at all, Kadist Foundation, Paris, France, 2009
The Cassiopeia Plan, Wysing Art Centre, Cambridge, UK, 2010