Facility of Decline

Staring at the five TV setups in the few corners of Gladstone Gallery, I was perplexed. The bizarre objects laying around each room influenced the mood and experience of each film. The project as a whole felt separated, but linked together by a bigger message and meaning. Weights, sports wear, and other gym-related aesthetics brought not a sense of work ethic, but an odd temperament. The most memorable of all the films displayed was the one with a football and a male holding, running, and placing the ball. Each shot had a different transition, followed by a repetition, and briefly cut off by a plane of color. Color was used a transition between shots, but also an environment for the next movement, and sequence, to naturally follow through. This was captivating because it wasn’t a static color transition, but a mix of transition and sequencing. The camera did not move or follow, but had the sense of energy as if it did. No sound was played for any film and was left with a vacant air of small-talk and silence. The sort of imaging style was reminiscent of the 1980’s with its saturated colors and forms.
Other films including odd workouts in tights, or little clothing, and finger wax rubbing, all encompassed on the idea of oddity in the body’s buildup. The idea of a gym, and all that comes with that thought, was shattered by a void of confusion. Nothing was really happening in each film, but there was indeed movement. This is where I felt the title for the exhibition felt appropriate. Maybe it was a contemporary rise to the mediocrity of media and how there’s not much going on, but there is a replacement for ‘nothing’. I personally felt aback due to the randomness of tying a gym workout with such a message, but at the same compelled to think further. “Faculty of Decline” was indeed worth visting and relating to this class.