The work that we previously called ‘The Key to Success’ began production today. The title is more of a potential than a definite because of events that occurred during the filming. As we’ve previously mentioned the film was going to consist of hiding the keys to a locked ‘petty cash tin’ within the keys we purchased from the Internet. We were doing some tests and we genuinely lost the keys, which opened the tin, in the mass of other keys. The camera was still rolling at this point and so it captured the genuine frustration of us being unable to locate the key. We thought that this video was as interesting, if not more so, than the more performative one we had planned, due to its authenticity. It was also a funny accident; we were attempting to make a relatively serious piece of art about the nature of success but ended up losing the crucial element required to make the statement. It was decided that this film would go along side the other two, a kind of ‘making-of’, behind the scenes, the bloopers. It falls into a similar category as the dust idea; it’s the extra bits that aren’t included as a part of the ‘finished’ thing but is a byproduct of its construction. We thought the set up of this could be the same setting as we’d filmed it; the camera on a tripod in front of the desk, the box (and potentially pile of keys) on the desk. The camera would show the ‘making-of’ film and then perhaps on the wall behind the ‘actual’ one would be projected.
To proceed looking into the labelling/wrapping/packaging of art we just decided to look at some images online to get a feel for the materials/general aesthetic. We realised that if we were going for something sculptural, we’d need to have some sort of internal structure in order to wrap it up – not that this is an issue, just something that needs to be addressed in time. A Ryan Gander work that reflects the ideas in this is his series, ‘Alchemy Boxes’. These are self-styled time capsules for which the contents are enumerated in a text on a nearby wall. As the box is sealed, it is impossible to confirm its contents without destroying the work. This inevitably prompts the question: are you looking at the object or the idea of the object? It’s this level of mystery/narrative that we’d like to capture in our own piece.
The IRL version of ‘You've Got Your Arm In The Head Hole [The Label's Sticking Out]’ was set up and photographed today. To prop up the projector we went with a chair/desk to continue the educational referencing. Making some movements with ‘A Lover’s Online Discourse’ too – using a hay-net looks like it would be easy to suspend something over the laptop. Fake rocks were then also something we’re looking into. This would continue the indication of some sort of confusion; what on the surface appears might harm the laptop wouldn’t actually do much damage at all.
