Racing clocks run slow: Archaeology of a Racetrack
A row of static figures is displayed before of the viewer's eyes. The figures are clad in various types of motor sports’ garb. In a tableau vivant, they hold the characteristic poses of the race circuit: a racing driver jubilantly raising up his winner’s bottle of champagne, the race starter lifting up his checkered flag and the pit crew mechanics holding their tools. Shimon Attie films seventy individuals who once were involved with the legendary American Bridgehampton Race Circuit, which closed in 1994. These are not actors: they are actual participants and spectators from the circuit, wearing their authentic race clothing and gear.
Attie also uses snippets of original audio recordings made at the circuit during the 1970s. Yet the authenticity of the outfits and the plausibility of the gestures produce an effect far removed from a typical documentary. The total immobility of the figures, frozen in the poses most typical of their roles, transforms them into a set of miniature toy figures, inhabitants of a Lego world. In a similar manner to the way that children create imaginary social environments, adults continue the process of construction of social identities. It is simply the scale of the adults' toys, rather than their essence, that differentiates them from children. (Olena Chervonik)
* We can only show an excerpt of this work in the online archive. For the complete version, please contact the artist.
About the video
About the artist
- 1957 in Los Angeles, USA.
Studied at University of California, Berkeley, USA, at San Francisco State University, USA, and at Antioch University, USA
