Just a handful of people have sat through all of video artist Douglas Gordon’s 24 Hour Psycho (1993), but his version of Hitchcock’s classic—slowed down to last a full 24 hours—laid the foundation for his international fame. In 1996, he became the first video artist to win the prestigious Turner Prize. Many more accolades followed. In installations in which he repeats, slows down, or cuts up familiar images from soccer matches or Hollywood classics, he destabilizes our ideas about perspective, intention, and memory.
So too in Douglas Gordon on Douglas Gordon, in which the artist reveals himself to be a masterful manipulator of perception. Filmmaker Finlay Pretsell starts conventionally enough, with atmospheric footage in the Scottish artist’s Berlin studio and a brief introduction to his work. But Gordon soon takes over the direction and proceeds with a continuous monologue about his childhood and motivations. At times, he appears to be falling apart emotionally; moments later it is clear he was putting on an act.
The resulting portrait is as unconventional as Gordon’s own work. It offers no explanation or analysis of his art, but it does provide a glimpse into his creative mind.
Stills
