Inside This Faulty Machine

animation art contemporary art experimental experimental video painting printmaking rotoscoping Serigraphy

October 4 – 16, 2020

Faulty Machine, 1:15 minute loop, Single-Channel HD Audio-Video

Repetition occurs both in states of normalcy and anomaly. Something recurring or replicating forms patterns and routines from which we construct regularities in our very existence—allowing us to live life with certainty or at least with a sense of predictability. On the other hand, repetition may indicate a disruption in the usual, a breach in what is expected—like in a machine that suddenly malfunctions or becomes defective.

This new solo exhibition by Lawrence Canto was initiated by the idea of oddities in the reproduction of images by a photocopier—referred to in the title as a faulty machine. Designed to mechanically reproduce texts and images in the first place, its glitches and irregularities can be located in the imperfections of its copies. Canto proceeds from this cue and creates works that resemble photocopied images marked by striking flaws—from the grainy and blurred imprints, to smears and smudges resulting from excessive ink, to repetitive and overlapping figures. In this attempt to mimic erroneous image reproduction, he once again employs the processes he is adept with as a multimedia artist keen on exploring the integration of traditional and digital media. Deviating from his approach in previous exhibitions in which animated videos lift forms from painted and printed pieces, the compositions this time are conceived initially through animation and then translated later as still images by serigraphy and painting—unifying manual, mechanical, and digital methods of reproduction.

Despite the intent to render the pieces in the semblance of poorly photocopied pictures, we clearly get a glimpse of their overarching imagery: human figures superimposed on exterior views of buildings and other structures. Conceptualized and produced amid the current pandemic, this collection of works and its elements resonate well with the experience of quarantine and some of the realities that isolation and restricted mobility have brought to the fore. The human figures are stripped naked, and in their bare bodies we are confronted with a sight of humanity as it grapples with the basics of survival—food, shelter, clothing, companionship, withstanding diseases—all of which have been highlighted by our present situation. The cluster of human figures appears as sequences of similar figures reminiscent of multiple exposure photography capturing motion in stills. Here, the idea of repetition surfaces once again, but this time suggests everyday life becoming repetitive and monotonous as each day bleeds into one another in the indoor setting. The crowding of figures may also remind us of physical interaction, communication, and interpersonal relationship—crucial human needs which have been affected recently by social distancing measures and limited movement as we endure the ongoing global health crisis.

Curated by Ruel Caasi

The Working Animals Art Projects (TWA)