Night Philtre

 

 

 

Night Philtre: composite stills from video

Night Philtre

Night Philtre is a video work in seven channels, featuring an extended panorama within which the goddess Baubo acts out a ‘creation myth’ of sorts. This time the goddess interacts with characters and objects in an ever-evolving landscape, including various megalithic and South African landmarks such as the Cradle of Humankind and mine dumps around Johannesburg, and in addition, actual items of ‘space junk’ that have fallen back to earth. The seven screens of this work relate to the different stages often identified in creation mythology, and indeed evolution itself. Elements such as air, water, earth and fire all have a transformative roll to play in these narratives, and connect with the “philtre” of the title which often denotes a magic potion taken to effect transformation, be that physical or spiritual. The seven screens also relate to the days of the week, and in dialogue with the “Charm series”, at the end what appear as stakes rising from the ground are actually barcodes that, if scanned, would read “Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and so on. As Baubo lacks the middle part of her body, Vári decided to use recorded noises of her own stomach as a base for the soundtrack. The sounds are almost primitive, but also carries an irreverent and mischievous humour.

Night Philtre
2013
Seven channel video installation
2′ 15″, looped