Damian Gascoigne's dual screen artwork 'High Wind Over Hasegawa' (2021), with music by Jorde Heys is now showing at Scratch Art Space in Marrickville, NSW, AU.
Still from ‘High Wind Over Hasegawa’ (2021) by Damian Gascgoine.
“Tohaku Hasegawa painted the ‘Pine Trees’ screens around 1595, but the vivid brushwork makes it look as if the ink has just dried. I have been staring at ‘Pine Trees,’ for a very long time, wrestling with the unimprovable perfection of the original. About a year ago I started sampling the image, making loose, gestural ink drawings, co-opting myself into the narrative. This drawing series grew, intermingling with fragments of work from other idols, Hiroshige and Hokusai, and a shorthand of turbulent events from my own life.
The hand drawn ink animation is made for two-screen projection, deliberately drifting in and out of sync with each other. With no stable connection, the films cooperate and collide. Buddhist ideas of non-duality come to mind as we take off and find ourselves tethered at the same time. The drawings swirl, hats fly off, a shout goes up- what’s yours is mine, we’re going to be fine somehow. The work marks a period of great uncertainty- and considerable excitement- as I sought the courage to make big change happen, and to step out into a high wind.”
'High Wind Over Hasegawa' is on display from 25 May - 4 June 2023.