Close is a multi-screen video projection installation by Iain Mott that blurs the separation between viewer and subject by means of 3-dimensional sound. The viewer wears headphones and hears sound from the perspective of the subject - an effect achieved through binaural recording methods. Close portrays a haircut as a kind of death. The hairdresser, in a gradual erasure of the subjects features, removes hair and eyebrows with scissors and razors. The viewer inhabits the body of the subject as if watching his or her own disappearance. The shared ritualistic experience explores territories of death and loss.
| Production Credits Justin Brickle - director of photography Dominic Bromilow - gaffer/grip Stephen Dixon - editor/sound recordist Christiane Hanesch - art director Iain Mott - writer/director/sound editor |
Cast Iain Mott - subject Reno Pontonio - hairdresser |
Produced with the assistance of Arts Victoria and the CSIRO Mathematical & Information Sciences. This project has been assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Videotaped at CSIRO Building Construction and Engineering, Melbourne. Offline edit at Open Channel - online edit at Fine Cut.