Magnets and Gravity

While watching films or reading fiction I find myself drawn to particular objects, images or scenes I find significant on their own. In my mind I extract these moments, focusing on them as finished works instead of simply a part that is lost in the whole of the story.  In many ways my projects––in video, photography, and sculpture––are extracted moments taken from a story that is never told in its entirety. They are moments that describe certain actions (moving, stealing, reflecting, disappearing) that are motivated by self-imposed and external forces, the result of both leading and being lead. The characters, and sometimes the objects, seem to carry out these actions with unwavering diligence, driven by desires not entirely evident.

Adam Frelin is an artist based in upstate New York.

Adam Frelin, Winning Men, 2007. Framed posters, performers/performance views, 10-minute video/framed prints. Courtesy of the artist.

While watching films or reading fiction I find myself drawn to particular objects, images or scenes I find significant on their own. In my mind I extract these moments, focusing on them as finished works instead of simply a part that is lost in the whole of the story.  In many ways my projects––in video, photography, and sculpture––are extracted moments taken from a story that is never told in its entirety. They are moments that describe certain actions (moving, stealing, reflecting, disappearing) that are motivated by self-imposed and external forces, the result of both leading and being lead. The characters, and sometimes the objects, seem to carry out these actions with unwavering diligence, driven by desires not entirely evident.

It’s all magnets and gravity. And once in a while, it’s floating.

The context I work within, both spatially and culturally, helps to situate the imagery and the activity. Narrative plays an important role in giving life to both, not only in video and photography, but in the sculptural work as well. The sculptures are really props that help to guide or drive a narrative, even in the work that is not time-based. I’d like to think that even the maker of these objects is part of the fiction.

The work is always fiction. Whether naturally occurring or staged, there is a documentary impulse that guides the inception, creation, and presentation of my projects, allowing me to freely move along a gradient from factual to fictive. Though each project draws a portion of its meaning from cultural references, I try to simplify––possibly expand––these connotations by allowing the referent to be temporarily transformed into something less culturally specific and hopefully more universal.