Artist Speaking Event: Thursday, October 1

Patten and I sat captivated in the Hirshhorn’s black box theater, as we watched Guido’s “Nummer Acht (#8) everything is going to be alright.” Essentially, it’s a 10-minute video of a gigantic ship cutting through ice, with Guido walking in front of its prow. It’s absolutely mesmerizing. In her thorough review of the film, WaPo’s Jessica Dawson puts it this way:

Both boat and figure move in lockstep. Van der Werve continues forward while the icebreaker keeps pace. The scene appears as if it could go on indefinitely. To suggest just such an endless journey, van der Werve ends the film as suddenly as it began, snapping back to a silent black screen and final credits.

What to make of this? Though the action is minimal, the psychology is intense. The stark image of man pursued by industrial beast glues us to our seats. When will the man fall tragically through the ice? When will he break into a run? Will the ship give up pursuit? As time passes and it becomes clear that, in fact, nothing will happen next, the film turns into a philosophical exercise.

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Guido will be speaking about his film (and other works) at the Hirshhorn Museum this Thursday at 7 p.m., in the third-floor Lerner room. Nummer Acht—a snippet of which I’ve embed below—will be on display through October 11. If you haven’t seen it, get thee to the black box. If you’re like me, you’ll watch the video loop twice.

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