Set in the winding lowland of Scotland, Stoneymollan Trail is an elegy to lost time and fleeting desires. The latest offering from Glasgow-based artist Charlotte Prodger, this short-film is accompanied by new sculptural works in her largest solo exhibition to date, 8004-8019, on show at Spike Island until 13 December.
As both Disc-jockey and visual artist, Prodger goes about her artistic production the way that a musician might remix a track. Using audio-visual content, she weaves both fictional and personal narratives through the rehashing of YouTube videos, 16mm film, spoken word narratives and borrowed anecdotes, all of which are projected through technical equipment–a mainstay of her work.
Commissioned by the Glasgow Film Festival through the Margaret Tait Laurel Award, Stoneymollan Trail takes its name from a historical ‘coffin trail’ that weaves around Prodger’s hometown. The film is an amalgamation of varying formats: amateurish iphone clips, HD camcorder and deteriorating MiniDV tapes as well as Prodger’s signature voice-over recordings. Blending the native aspect ratios of her mixed sources, Stoneymollan Trail oscillates between the 4.3 (standard) and 16.9 (wide) view, intent on bringing the physicality of the screen into full focus.
Navigating the gallery space, viewers also come up against sculptural objects which attempt to block, divide and reveal all at once. Operating symbiotically, both Stoneymollan Trail and the sculptures explore the constricting grid systems, which have always been a fertile subject matter for Prodger. Drawing upon industrial materials and processes, including stretched haulage tarpaulins and military ponchos designed for warfare, the works act as visual stimuli, in thinking about the relationship between technology, landscape and the human body.
Charlotte Prodger 8004 – 8019 is showing at Spike Island until 13 December. All images courtesy Stuart Whipps (photographer) and Spike Island. All works courtesy of the artist and Spike Island.
