Spooky Action at a Distance

Co-exhibitors:

Thomas Vann Altheimer, Richard Ducker,  IanThompson

“Spooky Action At A Distance” is a group installation that comprises two films, accompanied by an independent surround sound work. The installation explores the political dynamics of the landscape and addresses the interplay between the past and present of human drama, as perceived through a sense of place within the surrounding environment. Cotterrell & Altheimer’s film addresses the contemporary issue of migration at the US border, while Ducker & Thompson’s film evokes military history at the MoD site on Orford Ness, Suffolk. 

In Cotterrell and Altheimer’s film, Mirror VI presents two strangers in darkness, separated by an undefined distance in untrustworthy environments. Despite their isolation, they are bound together by the fragile beauty of an intermittently blinking light and the profound human curiosity for the unknown.

Set against the dramatic topography of La Rumorosa, Tecate, and Jacumba Hot Springs, California, against the fluctuating paranoia of the Southern US Border, the region’s deep historical experience of migration for work, opportunity, and exploitation is explored in Mirror VI. The film delves into the potential for communication between strangers if their words were reduced to beams of light and their faces remained concealed.

The border has historically served as both a dynamic, shifting area of encounter and a barrier to communication. Referencing the restrictions, censorship, and disruption faced by the Bracero men when attempting to communicate with their families, the artwork explores the yearning for a thwarted conversation and the poetic imagery of imagining another.

Border portable encoding devices were devised to facilitate broadcast via focused spotlights in Morse Code. This form of communication has traditionally been employed to convey situations of human emergency, but it also presents the potential for messages to be shared without specifying the recipient. To the general public, the language offers the possibility of deciphering and interpreting coded meanings in distant flickering lights, mirrors, reflections, and beacons. It raises the possibility of encountering a broadcast or participating in a silent language. Mirror VI is a fictional narrative that takes place in an unexpected encounter between strangers. It is a two-screen video installation that showcases the dynamic dialogue through light between California and Baja.