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This two screen projection piece continues Gussin's fascination with ideas that explore human comprehension, complicating our grasp of reality through suggestions of the unknown.
'Remote Viewer' consists of two separate but interdependent elements. The first part of the work follows a journey undertaken by the artist to a particular remote location - an isolated hut in the eerily deserted landscape of Askja in central Iceland, whose bleak, barren surroundings were used to prepare the NASA astronauts for the kind of environment they would encounter on the lunar surface. A 16mm film record of the artist travelling to, and overnighting in, Askja highlights both the remoteness and the austere beauty of this unique location.
At the same time, in a film studio in London, a 'remote viewer' was filmed in his attempts to track Gussin's exact position.
Remote viewers are people who are said to be in possession of an ability to 'see' places and situations far beyond their immediate surroundings. During the Cold War, the US Military spent considerable time and energy researching this activity with some astonishing results. Individuals were put into a kind of trance and 'sent' to various target locations and subsequently interviewed in order to gain more information about them.
The remote viewer was filmed going through the various stages of the established military protocol used to discover the target location. One camera was trained on his face, while another focussed on the images and descriptions he draws in the process of identifying the location. A camera pan of the remote viewer captures him mentally navigating an infinity of possibilities while Gussin literally navigates a 'great outdoors'.
For information on the accompanying catalogue, please visit the publications section.
Associated Publications with Graham Gussin:
Remote Viewer - Graham Gussin
Ikon Gallery, 17-Apr-02 to 04-Jun-02
1 Oozells Square
Birndleyplace
Birmingham
B1 2HS
The Wapping Project, 27-Sep-02 to 13-Nov-02
Wapping Hydraulic Power Station
Wapping Wall
London
E1W 3ST
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